First Kiss
by JudyNFran
Summary: Bakura challanges Kaiba to a chess match in hopes of gaining his attentions. [KaibaBakura (Ryou)]
1. Prolouge

Bakura looked down at his lunch tray, not hearing the conversation between his friends as his mind wandered. It had been nearly a year since Battle City and the conclusion of everything that had followed and despite Anzu's initial fear that the group would fall apart, they were all still together. Some more then others, Bakura reflected, seeing Yuugi blush and squirm at something Anzu had whispered to him. He gave a small sigh. It wasn't that he begrudged Yuugi and Anzu their relationship, even if it did mean he spent less time with Yuugi, it was just that watching them always made him think of his own crush...  
  
He paused, hearing an almost angry 'thunk' repeating over and over from near by. Pushing aside his soon to be depressed lamenting, he turned to the source of the sound, finding Honda repeatedly stabbing his lunch with his fork. "Honda-kun? Are you all right?"  
  
The taller boy paused, looking up. "Yeah, I'm fine," he dismissed, turning back to his tray before looking over at Jounouchi and making a face. "Wasn't hungry and you know how the lunch is," he continued, turning back to Bakura.  
  
Bakura nodded slightly, looking down at his own untouched meal.  
  
"How bout you, you okay?" Honda asked, shifting to face the paler boy better. "You seem kinda... down."  
  
Bakura gave a small embraced smile. "I guess I am..." he said softly, not looking up.   
  
"Anything you want to talk about?"  
  
The boy was quiet a moment before speaking. "There's... this person, that I like, that I have for a while, but that person doesn't seem to realize I exist," he said softly, one finger poking at the napkin on his lap.   
  
Honda nodded. "That definitely tough," he sympathized. "I know how painful it can be."  
  
"Because of Shizuka-chan?" Bakura asked. "I know you liked her."   
  
Honda paused, then nodded. "Yeah. She never really saw what I was trying to do," he shrugged, poking at his mutilated lunch again. "Damned Otogi," he muttered before looking up at Bakura again. "You have to be forceful to get someone's attention. Subtly just gets completely missed. If you like this person, do something that'll get you noticed, but in a good way, making an ass out of yourself never works well." He looked over at Jounouchi and made another face.   
  
Bakura was quiet a long moment, thinking on his friends words. He obviously wasn't going to get his crush's attention just lamenting and pining over what could have been... Slowly, he nodded. "Thanks, Honda-kun," he smiled. "I'll try." He rose to his feet, excusing himself from the table.   
  
Bakura looked up from his research in the school library as Honda sat down next to him with a sigh. "Something wrong...?" he asked, concerned as he closed the book he was looking through.  
  
"Eh, I don't know," Honda admitted. "Think I just fucked something up majorly."  
  
"With Jounouchi-kun?"  
  
Honda looked up sharply. "How'd you know?"  
  
"He was just in here looking for Yuugi-kun," Bakura answered. "He was upset about something but didn't want to talk about it."  
  
"How bad was he?"  
  
"He was shaking a little like he just found out there was going to be a major test or something," Bakura nodded, reaching for another book in the large pile he had near him. "Or like when he found out he'd have to risk loosing his Red Eyes in Kaiba-kun's Battle City," the paler boy smiled. "Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll be fine. Jounouchi-kun is like that."  
  
"Heh, yeah," Honda smiled almost fondly. "So what's with all the books?" he asked, changing the subject. "You doing an extra credit paper or something?"  
  
Bakura gave a small embarrassed smile. "Not-- not exactly..."  
  
Honda frowned slightly, picking up one of the books and reading the title. "'Top strategies of Chess Champions.' 'A Hundred and One Chess Matches' 'How to Win at Chess.'" He looked over at Bakura again, expression curious. "What's with all the Chess books?"  
  
The paler boy looked down. "I took your advice," he said softly with a small smile.   
  
Honda raised an eyebrow before reaching for another book. "The Chess Career of Kaiba Gozaboro'....?!" His eyes widened in realization. "Bakura, you didn't...."  
  
"Not yet," Bakura assured, fidgeting slightly. "I need to think up a strategy so I'll have a good chance of winning first."  
  
"Bakura..." Honda nearly groaned. "You should have said...! I never would have told you that if I woulda known it was KAIBA! I though you were trying to get the attention of a girl or something!"  
  
Bakura didn't look up, playing with his hands. "Sorry... I didn't want you to think...." he trailed off, uncomfortably.  
  
"That you were insane for liking Kaiba?" Honda sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You'd have better luck with Yuugi."  
  
Bakura looked up, blinking at the taller boy. "You don't think I'm a freak for liking boys...?" he asked in meek wonder.  
  
Honda gave a snort of laughter. "Nah. You're in good company," he smiled, giving the paler boy a pat on the shoulder.  
  
Bakura blinked again in confusion before his eyes went wide. "Aaa! You and Jounouchi-kun...!! So that's why...?"  
  
Honda nodded with a sigh. "I kissed him and he freaked," he admitted.  
  
Bakura nodded. "Jounouchi-kun doesn't seem the type to easy accept that things aren't as he sees them. You and Jounouchi-kun always seemed very close so maybe if you give him some time to get used to the idea...?" he suggested.  
  
"Maybe," Honda mused.  
  
"Or you could always just jump him."  
  
Honda stared at his innocent smile of his friend a moment in shock before giving a laugh. "Tempting, but he'd probably beat the shit out of me for it," he grinned, shaking his head slightly. He gave a sigh, getting up. "If he comes through here again--" he paused, unsure what to say.  
  
"I'll give him a sympathetic ear," Bakura smiled. "And try and convince him that it's okay."  
  
Honda smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Bakura gave a content smile as he watched his friend leave, one of his major fears alleviated. If Honda also liked boys, then even if Kaiba rejected him for being a freak, Honda would understand. Smiling again, he turned his attention back to his books.  
  
----  
  
Yeeep, I'm reposting. A bit of a toned down version cause apparently FF.net felt the last one was above an R rating. *shrugs* And you get a prolouge here cause I doubt anyone read or remembers 'Closer to You' which is what the prologe is edited from [and where this story started out.]  
  
Enjoy   
  
- Fran 


	2. Chapter 1

Bakura hesitated, looking at the classroom door. All of his classmates were still at lunch, except for one... Taking a deep breath, he smoothed down his uniform, trying hard not to get too nervous. Gathering his courage, he entered the classroom.  
  
His classmate was still there, reading his book as he had been when the class broke for lunch. Slowly, he approached, praying the other boy couldn't hear the pounding of his heart. Reaching the desk, he took one last deep breath before speaking. "Kaiba-kun....?"  
  
The brunet didn't glance up from his book. "What?" he said, in a tone that left little doubt that Bakura was disturbing him.  
  
Bakura's hands tensed into fists as he forced himself not to look down. "I want to challenge you to a game of chess," he said, trying to sound confident.  
  
Kaiba raised a brow, still not looking up. "You'll lose," he said flatly.  
  
"I know I'm not as good as you are, but I still want to challenge you," Bakura insisted. "And-- and if I win, I-- I want to give you my first kiss," he stammered, finally looking down with a blush.  
  
Kaiba's second brow joined the first near his hairline. "You want what?"  
  
"If I win... I want to give you my first kiss," Bakura repeated, voice softer, blush darkening.  
  
A look of amusement crossed Kaiba's face. "And just when did you want to have this game?" he asked.  
  
"When-- whenever's best for you," Bakura stammered, heating jumping slightly.  
  
"I have some slight free time next Thursday. If you don't take up much of it, you may have your game."  
  
The pale haired boy gave a relieved sigh. "Arigatou, Kaiba-kun," he smiled slightly.   
  
Bakura looked up at the towering statue of the Blue Eyes White Dragon as he past it, feeling more and more nervous.   
  
"Bakura!"  
  
The boy looked up and gave a smile, seeing Mokuba waving at him.  
  
"You're early," the boy observed. "Niisama's still working, but he'll be here soon. You can wait for him! This way!"  
  
Bakura followed the energetic boy past the security guards to a long hallway. "It's the door at the end with the chessboard on it," Mokuba told him with a nod. "Don't be too crushed when Niisama beats you!" he laughed cockily before leaving.  
  
Bakura took a deep breath and headed down the hallway.  
  
After the boy had waited a while, Kaiba joined him. "You still wish to challenge me?"  
  
Bakura nodded, looking up at the taller boy. "Hai."  
  
"With the prize for you winning being a kiss?"  
  
Bakura nodded again, blushing slightly.  
  
"Very well. Choose which colour you want." Kaiba held out two intricately carved wooden pawns, one stained nearly black, the other left at a natural pale brown.  
  
With brief hesitation, Bakura chose the black pawn.  
  
Kaiba quickly set up the pale pieces on his side of the board. "You may start."  
  
Bakura took a deep breath and nodded. 'Just like in practice verses the computer...' he coached himself before reaching out to move his first piece.  
  
A half hour later he was shaking slightly and kept wiping his brow, feeling as if he was sweating. The intensity of Kaiba's playing had been overwhelming and nerve-wracking, but slowly, his strategy was starting to work. Trembling, he reached for his piece. This was it... everything was set up... Slowly, he picked up the piece and moved it. "Knight takes Queen..." he said carefully. Picking up the fallen piece he nearly gave a cheer. The queen was the most powerful piece on the board, with Kaiba's gone, he would be able to win the game for sure!  
  
With barely a pause, Kaiba moved his knight. "Checkmate," he said calmly.  
  
Bakura froze, staring at the board in shock. Slowly, his shoulders slumped. "Sou naa...." he nearly whimpered in defeat. Giving a sigh, he looked down. "Ometetou, Kaiba-kun...."  
  
Kaiba sat back, almost expecting more of an outburst. When none came, he rose and moved to Bakura's side of the table. "You never said what I got when I won," he said in a low voice.  
  
The paler boy looked up in mild shock, eyes wide and slightly alarmed at Kaiba's tone. "What-- what did you want...?" he asked in a small voice.  
  
Kaiba took Bakura's chin in his hand. "I think I'll take your first kiss," he said in the same tone. He raised the other boy's face and leaned down, kissing him quickly before gathering the chess pieces and leaving the room.  
  
Bakura stared at the spot where Kaiba had been in mild shock. Slowly, a smile spread across his face as he raised a shaky hand to touch his lips. 'He kissed me...' he thought, mental voice slightly giddy. With a small laugh, he rose to his feet. 'He kissed me....' He gave an incredible smile before leaving the room. 


	3. Chapter 2

Bakura looked briefly over his shoulder to where Kaiba was ignoring the classwork before blushing and looking back down at his paper, feeling foolish. He could hear Yuugi trying hard not to laugh and blushed more. He knew he was being silly, but...  
  
He looked over at Kaiba again, then ducked his head back once more. 'I'm so pathetic...' he lamented, near hiding behind his books.  
  
The next time he looked up, Kaiba caught his eye and raised a brow in amusement.  
  
Bakura's face went bright red and he hid behind his book again.  
  
"Is something the matter, Bakura-san?"  
  
"N--no," Bakura assured swiftly, trying hard to ignore the light laughter aimed his direction.  
  
The teacher peered down at him. "Your face is all red," he observed. "Go down to the nurse and have her check to see if you have a fever. Will someone help Bakura-san to the nurses?" he asked the class as Bakura nearly died from embarrassment.  
  
Kaiba's book shut with a snap. "I will," he said with finality.  
  
Bakura's eyes went wide and he looked at the boy again.  
  
"Thank you, Kaiba-san. Everyone else, open your English books to page 146. Jounouchi-san, since you think Bakura-san's condition is so amusing, please start reading at the top of the page."  
  
Slowly Bakura rose to his feet, mind whirling with questions as he headed for the classroom door.  
  
Kaiba followed. "What were you thinking?" he asked as soon as the door was closed. "Did you think no one would notice?"  
  
Bakura looked down, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry..." he apologized softly, trying hard not to fidget.  
  
"Managing to do decently well at chess is no reason to look at me as if I were your dessert for lunch," the brunette said coldly.  
  
Bakura flinched. "I-- I wasn't-- I wasn't think of you like that!" he protested. "I-- I just...." he trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence in a way that wouldn't get Kaiba even more angry at him.  
  
"You just wished another kiss," the young CEO finished for him.  
  
Bakura gave a small nod, feeling slightly ashamed and embarrassed.  
  
Kaiba sighed, then pinned Bakura to the wall, kissing him deeply.  
  
The paler boy's eyes went wide in surprise before he melted into the kiss, eyes closing in bliss as he relaxed.  
  
As abruptly as the kiss had begun, it ended, Kaiba pulling away from Bakura. "And now?"  
  
Bakura tried to calm himself, forcing his breath to slow back to normal as he looked up at the taller boy in amazement and awe.  
  
"Well?" Kaiba demanded.  
  
"You kiss as well as you play chess," Bakura said without thinking. He blushed brightly in embarrassment, looking down again.  
  
Kaiba smirked. "Is that your answer?"  
  
Bakura gave a small embarrassed smile and nodded. "You're amazing..." he said softly.  
  
"At everything," Kaiba said with satisfaction. "Will you now leave me alone? Or do you wish more?"  
  
"Did-- did you want me to leave you alone...?" Bakura asked, hopping the answer would be no.  
  
Kaiba raised a brow. "Would you?"  
  
Bakura looked down, feeling ashamed. "Sorry... If-- if you want me to, I will, I just---" he fidgeted slightly. "I like you," he said softly.  
  
"You like other people too," Kaiba pointed out, looking for clarification.  
  
Bakura blushed slightly. "Not like this."  
  
"'This?'"  
  
The paler boy fidgeted again. "I-- I like you... in-- in that way..." he admitted with a blush.  
  
"And if I don't feel the same?"  
  
"If you don't, I'll leave you alone," Bakura promised. "I-- I just hope you'll give me a chance..." he said softly.   
  
Kaiba snorted. He opened the door to the classroom. "The nurse said he should go home," he said flatly. "I'm taking him." He closed the door again and looked at Bakura.  
  
The boy looked back at him, slightly nervous. "I-- I should get my books," he said softly.  
  
"You can get them later. Someone will take them for you."  
  
Bakura nodded. Hesitated briefly, he turned, starting to walk towards the school's entrance.  
  
Kaiba followed, watching him predatorially.  
  
Bakura bit his lip slightly, wondering what he had just gotten himself into, feeling Kaiba's eyes on him as he slid into his shoes. Taking a deep breath he looked at the taller boy, waiting for him to say where they were going.  
  
Kaiba merely strode out of the building and started down the street, knowing that Bakura would follow.  
  
The pale haired boy had to walk quickly to keep up with Kaiba's long strides.   
  
After a few blocks they were met by a car. Kaiba opened one of the doors and motioned Bakura into the back.  
  
Hesitating slightly, Bakura slid inside, hands folding tightly in his lap as he sat down.  
  
Kaiba shut the door with a bang and said a few words to the driver, then leaned predatorially over Bakura, eyes glinting.  
  
The boy tried his best not to cower as he met the taller boy's eyes, heart beating rapidly.   
  
Kaiba smirked at the reaction and leaned closer.  
  
Bakura's breath quickened as his body reacted. Quickly he shifted his hands to cover it and prayed that Kaiba hadn't noticed.  
  
Kaiba's smirk widened and he continued leaning closer, pinning Bakura to the seat.  
  
The paler boy's eyes went wide as his heart raced.  
  
As he leaned, Kaiba's hand reached down to the side of the seat. With a quick movement, he pulled the lever that adjusted the angle of the seat, causing it to recline quickly.  
  
Bakura gave a small surprised squeak as he fell back. "Ka--Kaiba-kun...!" he exclaimed shakily.  
  
"Yes?" Kaiba purred, practically straddling him  
  
Bakura flushing slightly. "You're-- you're going a bit-- a bit fast," he stammered.  
  
"Very well," Kaiba said in his usual brusque manner, pulling away to sit in the other seat.  
  
Bakura lay there a moment, trying to get his breath and body under control. Slowly, he sat up, adjusting the seat again. 'He's playing with me....' he though with a sigh as he tried to adjust his uniform to cover the results of Kaiba's play.  
  
Kaiba glanced at him. "So you say this is not what you wanted?"  
  
"It's not that, it's just..." Bakura hesitated a moment. "I've never... I mean, I--" he blushed slightly, fidgeting. "Yesterday was my first kiss and I've never done anything like this before. It-- it's nice, but-- it's too much too fast," he admitted.   
  
"So you want sex but not yet?" Kaiba said with asperity.  
  
Bakura looked at him, expression hurt. "You think that's what this is all about...?"  
  
"It isn't?" Kaiba asked without interest, looking out the window.  
  
Bakura gave a sigh. "You've never liked anyone before, have you, Kaiba-kun...." He looked back at his lap.  
  
Kaiba snorted. "So you want to have sex with Yuugi and the stupid puppy too?"  
  
"This isn't about sex!" Bakura insisted strongly. "And I don't like Jounouchi-kun that way," he added in a near mumble.  
  
"Then what is it about?"  
  
"It's about... wanting to be near someone you like, wanting to get to know them better," the paler boy said softly.  
  
"Then go 'be near' your friends and leave me out of it," Kaiba said.  
  
"It isn't the same like, Kaiba-kun," Bakura corrected, shoulders slumped.   
  
"You needlessly complicate your words," Kaiba said with disdain. "Say what you mean already."  
  
"Why did you kiss me?" Bakura asked, looking up.  
  
"You wanted it and it seemed amusing at the time," Kaiba said in an offhand manner.  
  
"Is that also why you took me out of class?" Bakura asked, feeling a mild depression set in.  
  
"You obviously couldn't be trusted in a setting with others, so I took you out."  
  
Bakura blinked. "Trusted...?" he repeated.  
  
"Do you think your 'friends' were the only ones aware of the fact that you were looking at me?"  
  
The shorter boy near grimaced. "Sorry..." he apologized, looking back down at his lap. "Sorry I caused you any inconvenience," he said, tone mildly bitter as he turned to look out the window.  
  
Kaiba snapped his fingers and the car slowed to a stop. "If there's nothing more, you may go."  
  
Silently, Bakura opened the door and exited. He hesitated a moment, not recognizing where he was, but still closed the door behind him, starting to walk in the direction that the limo had come from.  
  
The car started again, quickly leaving Bakura behind. 


	4. Chapter 3

Bakura shuffled tiredly into the classroom, dropping tiredly onto his seat. His feat and legs still ached from the seemingly endless miles he had walked to get home and it had been well past sundown. He'd barely managed to make himself a late dinner before collapsing in bed.  
  
"Ya look like shit," Jounouchi greeted, causing the paler boy to give a small rueful smile.  
  
"Jounouchi!" Anzu exclaimed, scowling at the blond.   
  
"What?! He does!"  
  
"What happened?" Yuugi asked. "Were you really sick yesterday?"  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment, then gave a small nod. "Un. But I'm mostly better now," he assured.  
  
"Kaiba didn't take you home?" Honda asked carefully.  
  
"No, he did," Bakura lied.  
  
"Then you must be really bad," Yuugi concluded. "You shouldn't have come to school today."  
  
"As long as I can sit out gym, I'll be fine," Bakura assured with a smile.  
  
"Bah, c'mon, I'll take ya home," Jounouchi smiled, putting an arm around the small boy in a friendly way.   
  
"I'm fine, Jounouchi-kun," Bakura smiled, the thought of walking anywhere making him feel as if he'd pass out.  
  
"You shouldn't push yourself so had, Bakura-kun," Anzu said compassionately. "You should have had one of us bring you your work and rested more."  
  
"I'm fine yo," Bakura assured again. It wasn't that he didn't appreciated his friends concern, but... He caught himself before sighing again. It was his own fault and he really didn't feel like talking about it to anyone. Jounouchi would be enraged and go after Kaiba and he didn't wish that on either of them.  
  
As if Bakura's thoughts of him were a cue, Kaiba entered the class and took a seat, opening his book.  
  
Bakura looked down at his desk and reached for his briefcase. "Ne, Yuugi-kun? Can I borrow your notes?" he asked, trying hard to keep his attention away from the young CEO.  
  
"Un," Yuugi answer.  
  
Bakura focused his attention on the notes, copying them swiftly. "Thanks," he smiled as the teacher entered the room.  
  
Thankfully, he was able to keep his mind focus on classwork and the period progressed swiftly.  
  
He smiled Jounouchi's exuberant expression as the class broke for lunch. "Finally!" The blond exclaimed. "I swear, if my stomach was growling any louder I wouldn't be able to hear Honda's snoring."  
  
"Hey!" the brunet protested. "I don't snore!"  
  
Jounouchi grinned, but his retort was cut off by his stomach growing. "Ah, I'll prove it later, c'mon, it's eatin' time!" he exclaimed, heading for the door.  
  
Bakura laughed behind his hand at the boy before moving to stand. He nearly cried out as pain shot up though his feet, informing him that the painkiller he had taken to be able to walk to school had worn off. He covered it with a sigh, reaching for his books. "You go ahead, Yuugi-kun, Anzu-chan. I have to catch up on yesterday's work," he said with a forced smile.  
  
Yuugi looked worried but followed Jounouchi. Honda leaned over Bakura's desk. "You sure?"  
  
Bakura nodded. "Besides, I forgot to bring a lunch and it's mystery meat day," he joked.  
  
"I can bring you something."  
  
Bakura nodded. "Thanks, Honda-kun," he said appreciatively.  
  
The brunet looked at Kaiba on his way out.  
  
Bakura gave a small sigh, pulling out the small bottle of pain killers in his bag and swiftly taking a pair. With luck, they'd start working swiftly and he could go to lunch with everyone and not be stuck in a room with Kaiba...  
  
Forcing his mind away from the other boy in the room, he began reading.  
  
Kaiba ignored Bakura and continued reading his book, as he had all through class.  
  
Bakura found it increasingly harder and harder to pay attention to his work. It was almost as if he could hear the other boy's breath in the silent classroom.  
  
Finally, he closed the book, unable to take it anymore and slowly rose to his feet, trying to ignore the pain. He gave a small cry as his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor. Silently, he cursed the now ruined shoes he had been wearing the previous day. If only he had worn his sneakers to school... Gritting his teeth, he reached up to the closest desk to pull himself up.  
  
Hands grabbed him under the armpits and hauled him to his feet.  
  
Bakura trembled slightly at the contact, heart racing. He carefully got his feet solidly under him and put a hand on the desk to steady himself. "Th--thank you," he stammered.  
  
"If you can't walk you shouldn't try," Kaiba said, turning away.  
  
Bakura looked at the boy as he sat down, wanting to ask why he had bothered or yell at him for dropping him off a good five miles from town, but knowing neither would get a good response. "Kaiba-kun..." he began, but paused, unsure what to say.  
  
Kaiba glanced at him, raising a brow.  
  
"I-- I'm sorry about yesterday," the paler boy finally said. "But what you said hurt... more then the walk home did."  
  
The brow twitched. "What I said? You expect me to be happy that you've decided I'm your soulmate? Should I jump for joy?"  
  
"I never decided that!" Bakura exclaimed defensively. "Why are you acting like I'm trying to use you or-- or blackmail your or something?"  
  
"Isn't that what 'love' is? Using someone else to fill an inner need in yourself?"  
  
Bakura stared, almost horrified. "No!" he exclaimed. "It's not something that cold and calculated!"  
  
"Isn't it? You want to be near someone, you said. So you want someone else to fill your emotional and social void. 'Love' exists to make people feel better about having sexual needs."  
  
"That isn't true!" Bakura insisted. "It doesn't have to have anything to do with sex! It's about wanting to make the person you love happy and to be happy with them."  
  
"So you admit its about a sense of emotional need," Kaiba said flatly, crossing his arms.  
  
Bakura hesitated, then nodded.  
  
"I'm not sympathetic to the emotions of others."  
  
"Don't you have any emotional need, Kaiba-kun?" the paler boy asked softly.   
  
"Emotions are for the weak." Kaiba reached down to pick up his book.  
  
"That isn't true," Bakura countered strongly. "Emotions can be strength. You've even said it yourself. It's because you were trying to save Mokuba that let you beat Yuugi."  
  
Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Leave him out of this."  
  
"Sorry...." Bakura looked down. "But it is true."  
  
"Having something to protect doesn't negate what I've said. People obsess over possessions as well." Kaiba's expression dared Bakura to challenge him.  
  
"But if you didn't have the emotions, you wouldn't want to protect anything because you wouldn't care," Bakura pointed out.  
  
"You may need to justify yourself through convincing yourself of 'love,' but I do not."  
  
"I'm not justifying anything. If I were doing this just out of the need to fill a void, I would be doing it with Yuugi-kun or Honda-kun or someone I was already closed to."  
  
"Good. Then do so."  
  
"I can't just choose who I fall in love with!" Bakura exclaimed.  
  
"Why not? It would seem irrational to place your emotions on someone you haven't chosen."  
  
"Emotions aren't rational..." Bakura pointed out with a sigh.  
  
Kaiba snorted and opened his book.  
  
The paler boy sighed again and looked at his desk. It wasn't any use, was it? 'I shouldn't have challenged him,' he thought glumly. With Kaiba's attention came his crushing pessimism, disdain and coldness. 'It would have been better to have never done anything. Then at least I could have had my dreams,' Bakura decided. And not the taunting ones either, where he relived the taller boy's kiss and touch.   
  
He put a hand of his forehead as if trying to push back the memories. How Kaiba could be so warm and sexual one moment and then cold and business the next--  
  
'Stop thinking of him,' he reprimanded himself. 'With my luck, he can probably hear it...'  
  
"Weren't you going to lunch?"  
  
Bakura looked over. "The painkillers haven't started working yet," he explained. "If I can't walk, I shouldn't try." He repeated the taller boy's words as almost a reminder.  
  
Kaiba snorted. "Lunch is half over already. You're not going to eat?"  
  
"Honda-kun said he'd bring me something back," Bakura answered.  
  
Kaiba snorted again. After a few more minutes of silence he put his book down and approached Bakura.  
  
The paler boy looked up at him, unsure and slightly wary.  
  
The brunet pulled him out of his chair and picked him up, carrying him to the cafeteria and leaving him in front of the lunch line. Without a word he returned to the classroom.  
  
Face utterly red, Bakura limped over to the table his friends were at and collapsed into a chair, burying his face in his hands.  
  
Yuugi's eyes were wide. "Bakura-kun... are you okay?"  
  
"No..." Bakura nearly moaned into his hands, trying hard to keep from either breaking down or snapping at his friend.   
  
"I can't believe that bastard just did that!" Jounouchi exclaimed, still scowling at the spot Kaiba had last been.   
  
"Why did he?" Honda asked.  
  
"He didn't want me in the same room as him, apparently," Bakura mumbled.  
  
"Asshole..." Jounouchi seethed. "He doesn't own the school, he can't just eject you from the room like that! You had work you were doing!"  
  
"Yeah!" Anzu agreed. "You should report that to the teacher!"  
  
Bakura shook his head.   
  
"What?" Honda said. "We're going to report that since Bakura was having trouble walking, Kaiba carried him to the cafeteria?"  
  
Jounouchi blinked. "You were having trouble walking, Bakura?" he asked. "You okay?"  
  
"I stepped on something yesterday," the paler boy lied, still not looking up.  
  
"That still doesn't give him an excuse to humiliate Bakura-kun like that," Anzu pointed out. "But, Bakura-kun, you should have said something, we would have helped to you lunch," she added, voice concerned.  
  
"I DID say I'd bring you something," Honda reminded.  
  
"It wasn't my idea to have him carry me into lunch!" Bakura nearly snapped. He grimaced. "Sorry..." he apologized, looking up. "It's been stressful for me, the last few days... sorry..."  
  
"You want me to take you home?" Honda asked.  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, Honda-kun," he smiled slightly. 


	5. Chapter 4

Bakura gave a relaxed sigh, feat soaking in a warm herbal bath as he paged though a gaming magazine. "Ooo..." His eyes lit up at a two page ad for a strategy board game.  
  
The day off had made him feel much better. He had caught up on sleep and the previous days' classwork and had been off his feet as much as he could.  
  
He looked up from the magazine as there was a knock at his door. "Chotto matte kudasai!" he called, wrapping his feet in towels before pushing of the wall and propelling the wheeled desk chair out of the bathroom and into the hallway. Slowing to a halt in the entry he carefully stood and stepped to the door. He opened it, smiling at where Yuugi should have been. He froze when instead of his shorter friend's multi coloured hair, he saw the bottom of a buttoned up school uniform jacket.  
  
Kaiba held out a pack of papers. "We've been paired for a school project," he said without preamble.  
  
Bakura looked up at him, eyes wide. "Project....?" he repeated with a sinking sensation of dread as he took the papers.  
  
"Yes. And as everyone else started in class, we should do something now so that we're not behind tomorrow."  
  
Bakura gave a small sigh. "Come in then," he invited as he limped back to his chair. He sat down and began looking through the papers. His eyes went wide as he stared in horror at the description of the project.   
  
Kaiba entered. "First we have to decide if we're married or merely living together," he read off his own packet. He snorted and went on. "And we have to look into the jobs we've been given to figure out standard day to day things like who cooks."  
  
Bakura looked up at him as his world seemed to crumble around him. "The-- the teacher paired us up for a household project...?" his voice squeaked.   
  
Kaiba glanced at him. "We were the only ones without partners."  
  
Bakura gave a sigh. "We might as well take this into the kitchen... Did you want some tea or something?" he asked as he propelled his chair back towards the hallway.   
  
"No," Kaiba answered. He deftly caught the chair as it passed him and pushed the other boy into the kitchen.  
  
Bakura gave a small startled exclamation, pulling his feet up to his chest so they wouldn't get run over, feeling slightly self conscious. That fact that was wearing his 'at home' clothing, a ratty pair of jeans and a loose button down shirt that was a few days from the rag bin didn't help.  
  
Kaiba pushed the desk chair in at the table. Noticing a pot of tea on the stove from Bakura's lunch earlier he ceremoniously poured it and handed the cup to Bakura with both hands.  
  
"Arigatou," the boy smiled, accepting. Maybe... He pushed the thought away before it could form. "So, what do we need to do to cover what the class did today?" he asked before taking a slip of his tea.  
  
"We're working on budgets today," Kaiba said, leaning against a counter. "I can do this on my own, but the teacher insisted that we both be involved."  
  
Bakura gave a small smile. "It wouldn't be a group project if you did it on your own, Kaiba-kun," he pointed out. "Which partner did you want to be? Bread winner or house keeper?"  
  
Kaiba snorted, then sighed. "The teacher also insisted that we all take the roles we likely wouldn't get in real life. Therefore you are the breadwinner and I am the housekeeper."  
  
Bakura blinked. "Oh... gomen ne, Kaiba-kun," he apologized.  
  
"Don't apologize. It wasn't your choice," Kaiba brushed the concern off.  
  
Bakura looked over the packet again and his eyes went wide. "A baby project as well?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"A child is an essential part of a family," Kaiba said calmly. "To leave it out of a reality unit would give faulty impressions."  
  
Bakura gave a small sigh, nodding. "At least they're not making us do a fake marriage to start this off."  
  
"And life for unmarried couples is distinctly more difficult."  
  
"Less so then same sex couples," Bakura pointed out as he finished looking over the packet.   
  
"As we're both, it should be interesting." The brunet paused. "Oh yes, we're supposed to sit together in class during this unit."  
  
Bakura's eyes went wide. "We're acting it out the roles in class as well?" he exclaimed, feeling almost frightened.   
  
"Of course," Kaiba said calmly. "Does a couple stop being one in public?"  
  
Bakura paled slightly.  
  
"So let's go over the basics," Kaiba said, opening the packet. "You have a full time job and I do part time temp work to supplement," Kaiba read off his sheet. "We have to go through the paper to find an apartment and car, and decide what kind of bank account or accounts we have, and work out a budget." He snorted. "Elementary work. Mokuba could do this."  
  
Bakura smiled slightly. "Most people haven't been living on their own, Kaiba-kun, it would be new for them," he pointed out.  
  
Kaiba snorted again. "Excuses."  
  
Bakura covered his smile with his hand. "Ne, Kaiba-kun?" he asked, after a moment of quiet. "Did you want to play a game? I have a lot of them, you can pick," he offered.  
  
Kaiba looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of game?"  
  
"I have mostly board and card games."  
  
"What kind?" Kaiba repeated, sounding a bit impatient.  
  
Bakura grimaced slightly. "All different kinds. I have Monster World, Chess, Dragon Fields..." he hesitated. "You can go look it you'd like. The game room's down here," he said, propelling the chair into the hallway. "I'm sure there'll be some game you like, I have a lot of them."  
  
Kaiba caught the chair again and pushed it down the hall, turning in at the gameroom door and leaving Bakura there. He looked around the room a long time in silence.  
  
Bakura looked at the taller boy almost nervously a moment before noticing the table with the chessboard and grimacing. He hadn't cleaned up from the last practice round before playing against Kaiba and all of the books and his notes were still scattered around the board. Trying not to call attention to himself or the mess, he quietly scooted into the game room and glided towards the table.  
  
Kaiba turned and caught sight of the chess setup. Before Bakura could reach the table, the brunet strode over to it and picked up one of the pieces. He grunted. "Chess is fine."  
  
Bakura nodded, quickly picking up the papers and books and moving them aside.  
  
A short while later the pale haired boy sighed. Kaiba had already figured out a way to counter his main strategy and his secondary ones were also failing miserably. Surveying the board he picked up a bishop that slightly resembled his Monster World avatar and slid it to take one of Kaiba's foot soldier pawns, looking up at the taller boy for any hint of how close he was to loosing the game.  
  
"Checkmate," Kaiba said calmly, moving a piece.  
  
Bakura sighed, bowing his head in acknowledgment of his failure. "Gomen," he apologized.  
  
Kaiba snorted. "Save apologies for when it's possible for you to win."  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment. "Do... do you think you could teach me? How to win, I mean?" he asked softly.  
  
"You can try," Kaiba said with a shrug. "If you don't want to win, you won't."  
  
"I don't think it's possible to win against you, Kaiba-kun," Bakura smiled slightly, looking down.  
  
"Then you never will," Kaiba answered, rising. "Let's finish the work we have."  
  
Bakura nodded, pushing off against the table.  
  
Again, Kaiba caught the chair and pushed it back to the kitchen.  
  
Bakura looked up at the clock. "Aa, it's getting late..." he realized. "Did you want something to eat? I can cook almost anything," he smiled.  
  
Kaiba looked at the clock and raised a brow. "You consider this late?"  
  
Bakura nodded. "Late in the evening. I normally make dinner before this," he explained.  
  
Kaiba snorted and went back to the bills he was working out.  
  
"Don't you ever eat, Kaiba-kun?" Bakura asked, smiling. "It's a proven fact that people who eat live longer then people who don't."  
  
The brunet looked up again, raising a brow.  
  
Bakura covered his laugh with his hand. "Gomen," he apologized. "Kaasan used to say that all the time whenever Tousan was too buried in his work." His eyes grew slightly saddened a moment before he continued. "You can take a small break to eat. We're almost done."  
  
"And once we're completely done I can leave you to whatever you'd rather be doing," Kaiba responded.  
  
The pale haired boy looked at him a moment. "I'd rather be working on this with you then sitting by myself with nothing to do," he said softly.  
  
Kaiba blinked a few times, then snorted. "Right. You 'like' me." He returned to his work.  
  
Bakura looked down, trying not to let the sarcastic remark hurt.   
  
"If you want to cook, you can."  
  
"Would you eat it if I did?"  
  
Kaiba shrugged noncommittally.  
  
Bakura looked at the boy a moment more before carefully getting to his feet, wincing slightly as he carefully padded over to the cabinets.  
  
Kaiba rose and pushed Bakura back into his chair. "What do you need?"  
  
The paler boy blinked. "Daijoubu yo, Kaiba-kun," he smiled. "I can get it."  
  
Kaiba glared at him.  
  
"Go-- gomen!" Bakura exclaimed curing up in his chair, slightly frightened.  
  
"What do you need?" Kaiba repeated slowly.  
  
Looking down meekly, the boy gave the list.  
  
Looking through the cabinets quickly, Kaiba found the items and brought them to Bakura, sitting down to continue his calculating.  
  
Bakura looked at him a moment before carefully getting to his feet again to start cooking.  
  
Kaiba scowled again and rose.  
  
"I can't cook sitting down!" Bakura protested before Kaiba could say anything, holding up a spoon defensively.  
  
"And I can't work while you're in pain," Kaiba countered, grabbing the spoon easily. "Just tell me what to do."  
  
Bakura blinked, then gave a small smile. Bowing his head slightly he sat down again and began giving instructions.  
  
Kaiba interrupted only once, to ask if the oven or stove should be on to heat while he mixed ingredients, and followed the instructions perfectly in silence.  
  
"And now it sits for five minutes to cook," Bakura finished. He gave a small smile. "Arigatou, Kaiba-kun," he said, voice warm.  
  
"Hn," Kaiba said, sitting to watch it cook.  
  
Bakura was quiet a moment. "Ne... Kaiba-kun?" he asked softly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yesterday, when you carried me out of the room... it was because my being in pain was keeping you from your work, like it was just before, wasn't it?"  
  
"Should it have been something else?"  
  
Bakura looked down. "I thought it was because you were angry at me or that you couldn't stand me being in the room with you," he admitted.  
  
Kaiba snorted. "Why would I waste my time with someone I didn't like?"  
  
Bakura smiled, blushing slightly. "Arigatou," he said softly.  
  
Kaiba ignored him.  
  
There was an almost awkward quiet. "It should be ready," Bakura finally spoke up, nodding at the stove.  
  
Kaiba rose and turned the heat off, moving the pot to another burner. "Bowls?"  
  
"The cabinet over the counter, second shelf." Bakura nodded towards it.  
  
Kaiba served the food, then sat back down to do the work while eating.  
  
"Aa! Oishii!" Bakura smiled. "You're a good cook, Kaiba-kun."  
  
"You were the one who was saying what to do," Kaiba responded absently.  
  
"But you did the cooking," Bakura pointed out.  
  
"I did what you said to," Kaiba repeated. "Only a dog deserves praise for that."  
  
Bakura blinked, looking concerned. "Kaiba-kun...?"   
  
The other boy scowled, pushing his food away and concentrating all his attention on math.  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment. "That isn't true," he countered. "Just because you will following instructions doesn't make your accomplishment any less. If that were true then there'd be no reason for learning at all, would there?"  
  
"If your kind of learning only means repeating things you were told, then there isn't."  
  
"Well isn't that what school is? You get taught the correct answers to things so you can recite them back. But people get tremendous amounts of praise for being able to repeat things perfectly."  
  
"And it's no wonder most of the country works in fast food restaurants. 'What makes a Nelson Mandela,'" he said with the air of quoting, "'Is human wisdom and philosophical depth.' You get none of that from repeating facts."  
  
Bakura nodded. "But cooking is different. If you just do exactly what the instructions are without taking into account any of the variables, you don't get the right product. If you'd just been doing what I said you wouldn't have turned the heat down when the oil started hissing."  
  
Kaiba shrugged.  
  
"So is that why you never pay attention and you're always reading in class?" Bakura asked after a moment.  
  
"Who says I don't pay attention?" Kaiba demanded.  
  
"I-- I just always thought you weren't..." Bakura faltered. "Because you're always reading and don't even seem to notice when class breaks."  
  
"I notice," Kaiba said, looking at Bakura, eyes holding some intense emotion. "I see."  
  
The paler boy's breath caught and he nearly moved back, but stopped himself. "Kaiba-kun..." he near whispered, unable to look away from the blue depths.   
  
Kaiba leaned closer. "I see you," he said, voice low.  
  
Bakura could hear his heart beat in his ears, pulse racing at the intensity of Kaiba's voice.  
  
After a tense moment, Kaiba moved closer in a lightning fast movement and pressed his lips against Bakura's and the pale haired boy gave a small startled sound before melting into the kiss, eyes closing.  
  
Kaiba rose, pulling Bakura to his feet so that he could press the other boy close against him. He held the back of Bakura's head, fingers twining with the boy's silvery hair, causing Bakura to make small soft sounds, wrapping his arms around the taller boy.  
  
The hand holding Bakura close resting lightly against the boy's rear, stroking lightly back and forth over it with gentle pressure that brought them even close and Bakura's arms tightened around Kaiba as his face heated up, eyes opening halfway to look up at Kaiba in loving contentment.  
  
Kaiba pulled back slightly, breath coming in gasps as he gazed searingly into Bakura's eye and the paler boy took a deep breath, followed by a long sigh as he smiled. Kaiba picked Bakura up before he could have any negative reaction to standing and carried him down to the bedroom he'd seen on the way to the game room earlier. He laid Bakura out on his bed and resumed kissing him, tongue seeking entrance to the other boy's mouth.  
  
With slight hesitation, Bakura's lips parted and Kaiba delved into Bakura's mouth, exploring thoroughly and he bent over Bakura, one hand tracing a line up and down the boy's side. The paler boy made small muted sounds, face flushed and back arching slightly at the touch.   
  
Kaiba paused, still coherent enough to ask himself if he wanted to do this. Deciding that he did, he began unbuttoning Bakura's shirt.  
  
Bakura looked up, eyes mixed with longing and mild fear as Kaiba slid a hand under the fabric and around Bakura's back, lifting the boy so he could pull the shirt off all the way, eyes burning into Bakura's. The boy started trembling slightly, breath coming quickly, unable to look away. His hands tensed, almost clutching at Kaiba's uniform. Kaiba made no move to comfort him, hands moving over the boy's chest and back as he watched Bakura's reactions with intense concentration. Bakura gave soft moans and whimpers, arching slightly as his body reacted as Kaiba continued, leaning down to claim Bakura's mouth again. The paler boy responded almost hungrily, wrapping his arms around Kaiba once more to hold him closer. Kaiba tensed at the touch, but made himself relax, shifting so that he straddled the other boy as Bakura's fingers moved to be holding onto Kaiba's uniform. Kaiba's touch ran down Bakura's chest to his waistband and he began undoing the buttons on Bakura's jeans, causing the pale haired boy to give a small whimper, hands tensing briefly before slowly relaxing again. Moving down the boy's legs, Kaiba pulled Bakura's pants and underpants down with one swift movement and Bakura tensed again with another whimper, breath coming swiftly.  
  
Kaiba smirked, then got up, realizing he needed something to use as lube if he was going to go any further.  
  
Bakura blinked, looking up with a worried expression. "Kaiba-kun...?" he asked in a small voice.  
  
"Don't move," Kaiba ordered, leaving the room.  
  
Bakura trembled slightly, hugging his arms to his chest and crossing his legs slightly, feeling cold and vulnerable. Did he really want to go through with this? It was so sudden... He shivered slightly, missing the other boy's warmth and touch, his body protesting the sudden lack. When Kaiba returned after a swift search carrying moisturizing cream, he blushed, letting the taler boy push him back into position, moaning softly as Kaiba's fingers moved over him, going lower and lower until---  
  
He gave a sharp gasp, tensing and whimpering slightly, face flushed as he reached out to cling to Kaiba's uniform again. His mind briefly wondered why Kaiba was still completely dressed, the soft sound of a lowering zipper the only indication that the taller boy's state of dress had changed at all, while he lay completely exposed, but all thoughts fled from his mind as he felt Kaiba readying. He gave another small whimper. "Please... be gentle..." he whispered as the taller boy gathered him in his arms.  
  
Pain. Pain melting into insane bliss. The paler boy clung desperately, eyes watering, gasping and shaking as his senses were overwhelmed. His eyes closed as he gave a long cry and then went limp, body and mind melting to the most glorious feeling he had ever experienced. He murmured contentedly as Kaiba lay him back down on the bed, eyes opening half way as he reached up to embrace the taller boy, giving a soft sigh as Kaiba put up no resistance and didn't twitch or pull away.  
  
The pale haired boy gave another contented murmur, snuggling close before drifting to sleep.  
  
--  
  
Note: I know a few people complained of the choppy sentaces in dailouge-free sections like this, so I edited it a bit and tried to make it flow better. Also changed it to more 'blur' out the actual sex and just show what's going on in Bakura's head as this is happening. Hope that works better then the orginal did.   
  
And those who read the orginal may also note the lack of Japanese used. I've been editing it out for the most part for this version [*waves at Bonasi*]   
  
Hope you're all enjoying this. Have a bunch more chapters to post, not sure how many I'll be putting up today, but for you impatient ones, go to: kokorononaka [dot] net [slash] Fanwork [slash] JF [slash] FK [dot] html [FF.net is annoying with stripping out URLS] for 17 chapters of the old version.  
  
- Fran 


	6. Chapter 5

~chapter 5  
  
Bakura carefully slid his wrapped feat into his sneakers, loosely tieing them before exiting his apartment, smiling happily. He hummed to himself as the elevator descended and gave another smile as he exited the building, taking in a deep breath of the morning air.  
  
As he began walking, a car pulled up and the door nearest him opened. "Get in," Kaiba said.  
  
The pale haired boy blinked, then gave a happy smile. "Good morning, Kabia-kun!" he said cheerfully as he slid into the car.  
  
"I thought you might still be sore." Kaiba was silent a moment, then thrust a bag at Bakura. "I made you lunch."  
  
Bakura blinked again, then smiled, taking the bag. "Thanks. And thanks for putting away dinner last night." He gave a small embarrassed laugh. "I hadn't expected to fall asleep that early, gomen."  
  
"You were exhausted," Kaiba said, brushing the apology off. He smirked slightly.  
  
"Un," Bakura agreed, blushing slightly as he looked down with a smile.  
  
Kaiba didn't respond, looking out the window as they were driven to school. When the arrived, Kaiba went around and opened Bakura's door.  
  
Bakura blushed slightly as he exited. "Thanks," he smiled.  
  
Kaiba didn't respond, staying at Bakura's side to make sure he wasn't in pain.  
  
The paler boy carefully removed his sneakers, pulling out a new pair of slippers that were larger and softer then his normal school slippers and gently slid his feet into them, wincing and blushing slightly as he bent over.  
  
Kaiba, quickly guessing the reason for the wince, smirked.  
  
Bakura's blush deepened slightly and he gave a small embarrassed smile.   
  
Kaiba took Bakura's bag in with him and set up the seat next to him so it would be as easy as possible for Bakura to get to his things without pain.  
  
"Bakura-kun!" Yuugi called, waving. "Over here, Bakura-kun!"  
  
Bakura waved back and gave Kaiba a quick nod of thanks before heading towards his friends. "'Morning, everyone!" he smiled happily.  
  
"What were you doing with Kaiba?" Jounouchi asked in disgust.  
  
"Kaiba's his partner, idiot," Honda said, slapping Jounouchi on the back of the head.  
  
"That doesn't mean he has to spend time with him," Jounouchi responded, glaring at his friend.  
  
Bakura covered his mouth to hide his laugh.   
  
"Bickering like a married couple already?" Anzu teased.  
  
Both boys turned to glare at her. "We didn't know what this project was going to be where we paired up, okay?" Jounouchi exclaimed hotly.  
  
Yuugi laughed. "But you're still acting like you've been married for years," he pointed out.  
  
"Which isn't any different then how they normally act," Bakura pointed out with a smile.  
  
"BAKURA!" Jounouchi and Honda exclaimed in unison, turning to glare at him, which only made him giggle.  
  
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized, still smiling.  
  
Yuugi laughed and the other boys turned their glare on him. He gave a mock cry of fright and hid behind Anzu.  
  
Bakura laughed behind his hand as Anzu threatened Jounouchi and Honda.  
  
Neither boy had to pretend to be skittish at her threats, so they turned to Bakura. "Do you know about the project yet?" Jounouchi asked. "If we'd known what it was we would have tried to swing something for you to keep you away from that bastard."  
  
"Un, Kaiba-kun brought the packet over. It should be interesting," Bakura smiled. "And I don't mind being paired with Kaiba-kun."  
  
Jounouchi fell off his chair. "Don't mind?!"  
  
"Un," Bakura nodded. "You're all already paired up anyway," he pointed out. "I'm looking forward to it."  
  
"Looking forward to spending time with that bastard!?" Jounouchi raged.   
  
"He's not a bastard," Bakura scowled slightly, arms crossing.  
  
"Not a bastard? I think you're still sick, Bakura. Unfeeling asshole. I'd like to...." The blond trailed off in incoherent hatred.  
  
Bakura looked at him a moment before sighing, looking down. "Mou, Jounouchi-kun..." he sighed again.  
  
Jounouchi wasn't paying attention anymore. He was glaring hotly over at Kaiba, who was - as usual - lost in his book.  
  
Bakura debated pursing the argument, but decided against it. Jounouchi wouldn't listen anyway and it would just distance him further from the group. "I'm going to go sit down again," he announced before shuffling back to his desk. 'Leave it to Jounouchi-kun to ruin a perfect morning with his bitterness,' he sighed to himself. Not that he expected anything different from his friend, but it had at least hoped to avoid it....  
  
Kaiba glanced up from his book as Bakura joined him. Seeing the boy's expression he glanced at Jounouchi. "Jealous if his success, makeinu? You can't have gotten much of the work done."  
  
Jounouchi nearly bristled, raising a fist in building rage.  
  
Honda grabbed Jounouchi around the shoulders. "Down," he half ordered. "The teacher'll be here soon."  
  
Bakura looked unhappily down at his desk as Anzu began teasing the boys about their apparent coupledom and Kaiba went back to his book, smirking. "You don't have to bait him," the paler said softly, looking over at his partner.  
  
"I know," Kaiba said without looking up. "Perhaps if he didn't make it so easy to prove him a fool."  
  
Bakura was quiet a moment. "I don't like it when he attacks you, but you keep giving him reasons to hate you even more."  
  
"Should I care what the loser thinks?"  
  
"He's my friend, Kaiba-kun..."  
  
"I don't suppose I can say much for your choice of friends."  
  
Bakura gave a small sigh. "I just don't want to be spending all of school defending the both of you from the other," he tried to explain.  
  
Kaiba snorted. "I don't need you defending me."  
  
"I'm not going to let him just sit there and insult you!" Bakura insisted.  
  
"Why bother? Let him make an idiot of himself."  
  
Bakura gave another sigh and looked over at where Jounouchi was still glaring daggers at Kaiba. "How is he making an idiot of himself when he calls you a heartless bastard?" he asked quietly, looking down at his desk.  
  
"Tell me you don't look at his rage and think him stupid."  
  
"I don't. I think he's over reacting and letting his temper get the best of him."  
  
"And that isn't idiocy of the worst kind?" Kaiba asked, looking up briefly to raise a brow at Bakura.  
  
Bakura hesiated a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Not really..."  
  
Kaiba snorted and went back to his book as the teacher came in.  
  
--  
  
Notes: Makeinu is one if Kaiba's favorite insults for Jounouchi which directly translates out to 'Loser dog' More insulting then just 'loser' 


	7. Chapter 6

Bakura closed his book as the class broke for lunch, smiling as Jounouchi began his usual routine of relief. He looked over at where Kaiba was still reading. "Are you going to come to lunch, Kaiba-kun?" he asked  
  
"Why?" the brunet asked, not looking up from his book.  
  
"I thought maybe because of the project...." the paler boy trailed off a moment, then reached into his bag. "Here," he smiled, holding out the lunch he had made for himself that morning.  
  
Kaiba glanced at him, then accepted the bag and rose. He offered his arm with a look of amusement.  
  
Bakura blinked in surprise a moment before blushing and accepting.  
  
Kaiba led the way to the cafeteria, pushing the door open and choosing a table away from everyone else.  
  
Bakura smiled selfconsciously as he sat, feeling the stares of his friends and classmates. He opened the lunch bag and smiled again at the simple sandwich inside. "Aa!" he exclaimed happily. "This is one of my favorites!"  
  
"I know," Kaiba said, removing the lunch Bakura had packed and putting as much of it as he could within the other boy's reach so it could be shared.  
  
Bakura blinked. "You do? How?"   
  
"It's information that's easily obtained. It's the kind of sandwich you always get at delis."  
  
The paler boy blinked again. "Obtained how...?" he asked, voice mildly concerned and worried.  
  
"Old records." Kaiba took a bite of the food, aware that everyone was watching to see if he'd actually eat it.  
  
"There's records of what I ordered at delis?" Bakura looked amused. "I though you only got that when use a credit card or the like?"  
  
Kaiba smirked and took another bite.  
  
Bakura gave a small laugh. "So you're the master of information as well as the Blue Eyes?" he smiled.  
  
"I'm the master of many things," Kaiba said, giving Bakura a slow look over.  
  
The boy gave a small shiver at the innuendo and looked down at his sandwich with a slightly blush. "Un," he nodded.  
  
Kaiba glanced around at the rest of the cafeteria with a dry glare. They all went back to their own lunches.  
  
There was a quiet for a moment before Bakura spoke again. "So how do you like the lunch?" he asked softly, looking up.  
  
"You cook well," Kaiba said.  
  
"Thank you," Bakura smiled happily. "It's something I enjoy. If you'd like, I can make you a lunch for tomorrow too. You'd have to tell me what you like though. I don't have your information." He rubbed the back of his neck in mild embarrassment.  
  
"I don't often eat lunch," Kaiba said. "You don't have to."  
  
"I'd like to. I can make them small, but you really should eat something...."  
  
Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Do not try to change me."  
  
"I'm not!" Bakura insisted nervously before looking down. "I just..." he hesitated a moment. "You don't even have to eat it, but if you have it, then if you want to you can..." he trailed off, twisting his hands.  
  
Kaiba glared at him a moment longer. "If you wish to cook you may."  
  
Bakura gave a small relieved smile. "Thanks. What-- what did you want me to make for you?"  
  
"I don't care."  
  
Bakura nodded. "I'll try not to disappoint," he said formally, bowing slightly.  
  
Kaiba snorted. "I'll eat whatever you give me."  
  
"But it should be something you like. Food is something you should enjoy." Bakura smiled.  
  
"Food is food," Kaiba said, "It doesn't matter."  
  
Bakura was quiet a moment. "Food is... It's like the will to live. Like how if you don't eat it means you don't care if you live or die, if you don't take enjoyment in what you eat, it's like you don't take enjoyment from life because you don't care about what's keeping you alive..." he trailed off with an embarrassed look, feeling foolish. "Sorry."  
  
Kaiba snorted again, putting down what he was eating. "My will to live comes from things other than food." He rose. "I am finished."  
  
Bakura nodded. "Sorry," he repeated again.  
  
Kaiba left the cafeteria, going back to the classroom.  
  
With a small sigh Bakura moved to the table where Yuugi and his friends were sitting.  
  
"He ate!" Yuugi said, wide-eyed.  
  
Bakura covered his laugh with his hand and nodded.   
  
"And he came into the cafeteria to do it!" Anzu added in equal amazement.  
  
Yuugi nodded agreement. "How did you do it?"  
  
Bakura blinked. "I-- just gave him my lunch because he made one for me."  
  
"He made you lunch!" Yuugi's eyes practically bugged out of his head.  
  
"Un," Bakura smiled, trying hard not to blush.  
  
Honda shook his head slightly and went back to poking at the remainder of his lunch.  
  
Jounouchi scowled, glaring at Bakura slightly. "You do know he's just doing this to get a better grade."  
  
Bakura blinked in confusion.  
  
"Class participation means acting the parts in public. He's a soulless bastard, Bakura, you remember that!" Jounouchi pointed.   
  
"But Jounouchi-kun, he ATE something," Yuugi said. "He wouldn't eat for a grade! And Kaiba-kun doesn't care about grades. And I don't think we get graded for lunch...."  
  
"If Bakura doesn't act the part as well, his grade goes down. Bastard's just manipulating him." Jounouchi scowled.  
  
Bakura looked down, hands tensing around the bag his lunch from Kaiba had been in.  
  
"You think he'd go that far?" Anzu asked, appalled.  
  
"Why not? You've seen the shit he pulls."  
  
"But Jounouchi-kun, he never does anything like that for his own gain! Only for his brother."  
  
Jounouchi gave a snort. "Like anything he did during the finals was for his brother? That was all his own greed."  
  
"Jounouchi-kun...."  
  
"Bakura, talk to the teacher, I'm sure we can pull something to get you a partner with a soul," Jounouchi said, turning to the paler boy. "Maybe we could even find a way to double you up with someone or ya can do it on your own, like a divorce household or something."  
  
Bakura said nothing, still looking down at the bag in his fists. Slowly, he relaxed them, flexing his fingers.   
  
"Bakura? You okay?" Honda asked, concerned.  
  
The paler boy rose to his feet with deliberate slowness. "I like having Kaiba-kun as my partner for this, Jounouchi-kun. I'm not going to try and get another partner," he said with a soft spoken firmness.   
  
"You've got to be kidding me!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Who could like that asshole?!"  
  
"I could...." Bakura said softly.  
  
Honda shook his head slightly while Anzu stared.  
  
Yuugi's hands were clasped under his chin as he looked at Bakura with shining eyes. "Bakura-kun! You really like him?"  
  
Bakura nodded with a small smile. "Un."  
  
Yuugi was ecstatically happy. "Yay! Everyone should like someone!" he declared, punching his hands in the air.  
  
Anzu smiled fondly while Honda chuckled.  
  
Jounouchi continued to stare at Bakura in shock that was bordering disgust.  
  
The pale haired boy looked around him to his smaller friend. "Arigatou, Yuugi-kun," he smiled, sitting down again.  
  
"Do you know what he thinks of you?" Yuugi asked. "I mean, he made you lunch. But you were so embarrassed the other day when he carried you in here." The boy frowned. "You thought he did it 'cause he hated you."  
  
"I'm really not sure," Bakura confessed, embarrassed. "But I know he doesn't hate me. So maybe..." he trailed off with a small wistful smile.  
  
"And maybe Yuugi'll grow another three feet tonight," Jounouchi scowled darkly.  
  
Yuugi deflated quickly. "Mom says I might grow more," he said in a small voice.  
  
"Jounouchi...!" Anzu half growled as she glared at the blond, putting an arm around her boyfriend. "Watch what you say!"  
  
Jounouchi grimaced. "I didn't mean it that way!"  
  
"No, it's okay," Yuugi said, forcing himself to be cheerful again. "Even if I don't grow anymore, I'm still taller than Jiichan. And Jiichan can beat Jounouchi-kun up, so there's nothing to worry about!"  
  
"Hey!" Jounouchi said.  
  
Yuugi gave a gentle smile. "I didn't mean it that way, Jounouchi-kun," he said, echoing Jounouchi's words. The blond looked uncomfortable.  
  
Honda pushed Jounouchi's head toward his food. "Find something to do with your mouth other than make an ass out of yourself."  
  
Jounouchi slapped Honda's hand away with a scowl. 


	8. Chapter 7

Bakura gave a small smile as he closed the door of his apartment behind him, feeling slightly nervous. They were going to begin the baby section of the project and despite his best efforts to ignore him, Jounouchi's muttering of what he believed Kaiba was going to do, or rather NOT do for that section had him slightly apprehensive.   
  
Kaiba's limo was waiting for him, as it had been every day of the project. The driver opened the door for him, and after he entered the car Kaiba handed him a bagged lunch.  
  
Bakura smiled happily. "Good morning, Kaiba-kun," he greeted, accepting the lunch and handing the boy a small boxed lunch of his own in return.  
  
Kaiba snorted and put the lunch in his bag. "We get grades for the first part of the project today."  
  
Bakura nodded, looking nervous again. "I hope we did well..."  
  
Kaiba snorted again. "You have to wonder about that?"  
  
The paler boy looked slightly embarrassed as he smiled. "I worry about things like that," he admitted. "Even though I'm sure we did fine."  
  
Kaiba shook his head. "You should trust in your abilities more often. You spend too much time listening to people like that bonkotsu."  
  
"I know," Bakura said, looking down with a soft smile.  
  
Kaiba glanced out the window, gauging how far they were from school. Coming to a conclusion that was satisfactory, he unbuckled his belt and stalked Bakura across the car.  
  
The boy gave a small squeak of startlement, blushing. "Ka--Kaiba-kun...!" he stammered.  
  
Kaiba smirked, straddling Bakura and kissing him deeply. Bakura melted into it, eyes closing as he gave a small sound like a purr in the base of his throat. Kaiba's lips and tongue grew demanding as he pressed Bakura back against the seat.  
  
The paler boy let him lead a moment more before pulling away with a gasp. "We can't, Kaiba-kun!" he protested, face flushed, breath coming quickly. "We're almost at the school!"  
  
Kaiba smiled seductively. "We don't have to go."  
  
"But we're starting the second half of the project!" Bakura protested, blush deepening. "We're going to be getting--"  
  
"We can get it tomorrow." Kaiba lowered his knees so that they were pressed tightly together.  
  
"Bu--but...." Bakura protested weakly.  
  
"You want to go to school?" Kaiba asked in a husky voice, breathing in Bakura's ear.  
  
The paler boy gave a helpless sound, melting against the taller boy and Kaiba smirked in triumph, moving his mouth over Bakura's neck. Bakura tilted his head to give the boy more access, murmuring softly as his fingers curled in the fabric of Kaiba's uniform. Kaiba's hands slipped under Bakura's uniform as the limo pulled to a stop in front of the school.   
  
Bakura's eyes opened, looking out the window and he gave a small squeak, ducking down to hide behind Kaiba.  
  
Kaiba scowled, then opened the door and exited the car, holding a hand out to help Bakura out of the car.  
  
The boy accepted, looking apologetic and meek, trying to smooth his uniform down. "S-Sorry, I-- I thought we were...." he trailed off, feeling more and more nervous at the looks they were getting.  
  
Kaiba smirked and led the way to the classroom, setting their books down at their desks and letting Bakura go over to talk to his friends.  
  
The paler boy continued to nervously smooth his uniform, looking slightly uncomfortable as he walked over to Yuugi's desk, feeling utterly self-conscious.  
  
Jounouchi scowled at him. "What'd he do now?"  
  
Bakura sighed, slumping into a desk-chair, ignoring the blond boy.  
  
"Are you ok, Bakura-kun?" Yuugi asked in concern.  
  
"Just nervous about getting our grades," Bakura lied with a smile, tugging at the bottom of his uniform jacket to cover his lap better.  
  
Jounouchi scowled. "You can bet if Kaiba has anything to do with it you got a perfect score. Probably went into the school's computers to make sure."  
  
"Kaiba-kun wouldn't do that. He'd think it was beneath him to have to," Bakura smiled.  
  
"'Cause you know him so well," Jounouchi said with a sneer. "He'd do anything to get something he wanted."  
  
Bakura scowled slightly.   
  
"Knock it off, Jounouchi," Anzu admonished, raising a hand threateningly at the blond.  
  
Jounouchi scowled and turned away.  
  
"Anzu-chan and Yuugi-kun probaly'll get the best grade," Bakura smiled, changing the focus of the conversation.   
  
Yuugi blushed and smiled at his friends and his girlfriend. "Anzu did most of it. And Jiichan helped too."  
  
"And you didn't have to work on acting like a couple," Bakura smiled. "So your participation grade will be perfect. Unlike Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun," he gave the brown haired boy a sympathetic smile.  
  
Honda sighed and kicked Jounouchi under the desk.  
  
"And how about you and Kaiba?" Honda asked. "You did pretty well for participation. Did he make you lunch again?"  
  
"Un," Bakura blushed slightly. "He even learned to make my favorites," he said, looking down with a self-conscious smile.  
  
Jounouchi scowled at the floor.  
  
Honda laughed. "Think he'll eat again?"  
  
The paler boy blushed again. "He's been taking the lunches home and bringing me back the boxes with the lunches he made, so...." he trailed off, smiling happily.  
  
"Probably gives them to Mokuba," Jounouchi muttered.  
  
Bakura's smile grew sad and he looked down at his lap.  
  
"Jounouchi," Honda said with a scowl.  
  
The teacher walked into the room. "Everyone take your seats."  
  
Bakura rose to his feet with a smile, walking over to his desk, sitting with a small sigh. "You're right," he said softly to Kaiba. "I do listen to him too much..."  
  
Kaiba smirked, glancing at the still-scowling Jounouchi briefly.  
  
Bakura was quiet a moment before looking at the other boy. "Do you..?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Do I what?"  
  
Bakura nodded towards Jounouchi.  
  
"Do I give your food to Mokuba?" Kaiba snorted. "Should I?"  
  
Bakura gave a small smile, shaking his head. "I didn't think you would."  
  
"And I hope all of you are ready for the next part of our project," the teacher was saying, "Because your easy lives are now going to be complicated by a baby. These are mechanical baby dolls. They cry at random and demand attention and feeding. They also have a contentment meter." He picked up a doll and showed off some of the mechanisms. "Your grades for this part will partially depend on how happy your baby is. I expect the homemaker to take care of the baby most of the time, but both members of each couple must spend some time with it. Ideally, you can do this while spending time together, but if your schedules can't work that out you can just pass it back and forth."  
  
Bakura gave a slow exhale, feeling nervous again. Kaiba's schedule was always full because of Kaiba corp. Even though Kaiba was the homemaker of the group, he was going to be the one who wound up with the baby...  
  
He gave a slow exhale again, trying to quell his worry. How was he going to know how to take care of a baby? Even if it was just a mechanical one, he had little experience with any sort of family, having lived alone since...   
  
He shook his head slightly, forcing the thoughts away. 'It's only a project,' he coached himself. 'It probably comes with an instruction manual...'  
  
Kaiba frowned slightly, then glanced at Bakura. Noting the other boy's obvious worry he asked lightly, "Do you want a daughter or a son?"  
  
Bakura hesitated a long moment, seeming torn. "We-- we get to choose..?" he asked meekly. "I thought they'd just be assigned..."  
  
"Of course they're just assigned. But which would you prefer?"  
  
The paler boy hesitated a moment. "A girl..." he said softly, eyes reflecting a deep sadness.  
  
"Because of your sister?" Kaiba asked as the teacher walked around the room giving out babies.  
  
Bakura nodded with a small embarrassed smile. "It's silly, I know," he said, looking down at his desk.  
  
Kaiba snorted and accepted the baby from the teacher as he came around.  
  
"Congratulations," the teacher said. "Come up with a name for your baby and fill out the register. I'll need them at the end of the class." He continued on his way.  
  
Kaiba held the baby comfortably and checked its sex. "We got a girl. Shall we name her Amane?"  
  
Bakura looked up, eyes wide. He gave a small smile. "Could we...?" he asked softly.  
  
Kaiba gave a short laugh. "Kaiba Amane."  
  
Bakura laughed softly. "Maybe she'll have better luck with your family name then mine," he smiled.  
  
Kaiba snorted, a strong emotion passing quickly across his face. He filled out the form carefully, holding the baby in one arm.  
  
"Do you want to hold her?"  
  
The paler boy hesitated, looking torn. "I-- I don't know how..." he admitted nervously. "What if I do something wrong...?"  
  
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Put your arms out. It's easy to hold a baby."  
  
Hesitantly, Bakura held out his arms, looking up at Kaiba, eyes unsure.  
  
As carefully as if the doll were a real baby, Kaiba put her into Bakura's arms and showed Bakura how to curve his arms to support the baby.  
  
The paler boy followed the instructions carefully as if holding something incredibly fragile. He gave a small smile, eyes holding a mix of emotions.   
  
Kaiba nodded. "I've been holding babies since Mokuba was born."  
  
Bakura looked up with a smile. "Really?" he smiled. "No wonder you're so natural with this," he laughed lightly. "I only got to hold Amane a few times." He looked down at the doll, eyes sad as he gave a small laugh. "My dad was always afraid I'd drop her."  
  
"No, Jounouchi," they heard the teacher say in the ensuing silence. "You'll have to buy him clothes yourself if you want him to have them. You get a bottle with the baby and some diapers. You have to clean them when you take them off."  
  
Bakura pressed his lips together, feeling the worry in him grow again. "I don't know if I can do this, Kaiba-kun," he said quietly, cradling the doll. "What if I do something wrong? I don't have any experience with children or families or anything. I don't know how to be a father..."  
  
Kaiba snorted. "And if you worry yourself sick you'll never do well." He took the doll back and rose to go choose clothes and return the naming form.  
  
The paler boy looked down, feeling ashamed and somewhat upset, fists balling on his lap as he tried to force back the flood of emotions that was welling up inside him. 'You're just being silly about this, it's just a project,' he coached himself. 'It's just a doll...'   
  
He rose to his feet, heading for the door, not wanting to break down in the classroom.  
  
Kaiba glanced after him, but before he could follow, several of the dolls - Amane among them - started crying.  
  
The teacher grinned. "Time to start learning what your baby's cries sound like." 


	9. Chapter 8

Kaiba glanced up from his book, seeing Bakura staring longingly at the "day care" corner where the dolls were turned off for class. He could tell that the other boy wasn't paying attention to anything, especially when the bell rang and he didn't move. With a small scowl, Kaiba rose and joined the rest of the class getting their "children" back.  
  
He smirked slightly as Jounouchi couldn't tell for a while which doll was his and had to have Honda pick out their "son." After taking Amane out of her place in the line of dolls, he went back to his seat to get Bakura and go home.  
  
The paler boy was slowly packing up his books, not looking up as Kaiba approached. "I'm sorry about earlier," he said quietly.  
  
Kaiba snorted and picked up his own bag, leading the way out with the doll held safely in one arm.  
  
Bakura followed, eyes downcast. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kaiba-kun," he bowed before turning to head home, shoulders slumped.  
  
Kaiba growled and grabbed Bakura's arm, pushing him out to the limo.  
  
The boy startled, looking alarmed and mildly frightened. "Ka--Kaiba-kun....?"  
  
The driver took Amane without comment and settled the doll in a makeshift child seat while Kaiba pushed Bakura into the limo and pursued him, pinning him back against the seat.  
  
Bakura gasped slightly, looking up at Kaiba through his bangs unsurely, breath coming quickly.  
  
With an almost defiant glare, Kaiba kissed Bakura forcefully.  
  
The boy gave a small muted sound, eyes closing as his hands tensed slightly against the leather underneath him. Kaiba's hands skimmed under Bakura's uniform as his tongue pressed for entry into the boy's mouth, the paler boy relaxing as he opened to Kaiba's advances. One hand left Bakura's body to lower the seat and Kaiba lay on top of Bakura proprietorially, the paler boy making a small sound, eyes opening slightly to look up at Kaiba, who held him tightly, nail's skimming the boy's skin. Bakura arched, breaking the kiss to gasp, eyes closing once more as the sensations pushed aside his thoughts.   
  
"Mine," Kaiba breathed into Bakura's ear.  
  
The boy gave a hazy smile, fingers curling in the jacket of Kaiba's uniform.  
  
"I have nothing worthless," Kaiba hissed, biting the other boy's neck before his hands began their work.  
  
A while later, Kaiba smirked triumphantly, sitting back, still straddling a now spent Bakura's lap.   
  
The paler boy's eyes opened slightly to smile up at Kaiba in blissful contentment and Kaiba leaned down, kissing Bakura hard, causing him to gave a small muffled sound, eyes closing again.  
  
After a long moment they became aware that the limo had stopped and the driver was holding the door for them.  
  
Bakura blushed deeply in embarrassment, weakly trying to pull his uniform closed.  
  
Kaiba rose off the seat, taking the baby doll from the driver and leading the way into the mansion.  
  
Face still red, Bakura followed, rebuttoning and smoothing down his uniform in tired embarrassment. He paused briefly, looking up in awe at the large home before bushing again and scurrying faster to catch up with Kaiba, eyes wide as he took in the sights around him.  
  
Kaiba entered and went up to his office, making sure that Bakura followed him. He pushed the boy down onto the couch and handed him Amane. "I have work to do."  
  
Bakura nodded, carefully taking the doll and cradling it, a small sad smile on his lips as he leaned back against the couch tiredly.  
  
Kaiba sat down and began typing at the keyboard, not seeming to give Bakura or Amane another thought.  
  
The paler boy sat, relaxing against the couch, gently rocking the doll in his arms, eyes distant and lost in thought.  
  
He nearly jumped when the doll began crying and his eye went wide He began rocking it, trying to sooth it, his panic growing when the doll didn't respond. "What do I do?" he worried. "Kaiba-kun, what do I do, she won't stop crying!" He looked up in desperation at the boy, nearly clutching at the doll.  
  
Kaiba rose with a scowl and walked over to the couch, plucking the doll from Bakura's arms. "She needs to be changed," he said almost immediately. Taking out the changing things from the baby care things they'd gotten at school, Kaiba swiftly put a new diaper on the baby and put the old one in the cleaning bin.  
  
The pale haired boy looked down, looking ashamed, shoulders slumping. "Sorry..." he said softly.   
  
When Amane immediately started crying again, Kaiba pushed her into Bakura's arms. "Hold her," he said to the startled boy.  
  
Amane quieted quickly.  
  
Bakura looked at her in wonder before looking up at Kaiba again. "She-- she stopped crying..." he said softly, cradling the doll.  
  
"That's because she wanted to be held by you," Kaiba said gruffly, going back to his typing.  
  
Bakura blinked, then gave a small smile, looking down at the doll again.  
  
~~  
  
Kaiba looked up from his work, noting that Bakura was starting to drift off to sleep, the baby doll still cradled in his arms.  
  
"Bakura," he said sharply. "If you're going to go to sleep, put the baby down."  
  
The boy startled to alertness. "Aa! S-Sorry!" he apologized, cringing slightly. "Whe--where should I...?" he asked timidly, holding the doll closely.  
  
"Just put her down. And if you're planning on going to sleep you should go home. I'll call the car."  
  
Bakura nodded. "I'm sorry," he said softly, gently placing the doll down on a couch pillow.  
  
Amane began to cry as Bakura put her down, so Kaiba went to the couch and picked her up, holding her on his lap as he worked at the laptop.  
  
Bakura looked at the doll a moment, expression mixed before giving a small sigh and retrieving his school bag.  
  
Kaiba glanced after Bakura from the corner of his eye as the other boy was led out of the room. He looked down at the doll in his lap and gave a soft sigh, hugging it close with one arm briefly. 


	10. Chapter 9

Bakura walked to school slowly, periodically turning to look behind him as if expecting to see something, or someone, the grip on the box in his hand tensing every time he saw nothing.  
  
Finally, he reached the school, heading to his classroom, looking slightly worried. When he slid the door open his eyes instantly went to Kaiba's seat.  
  
It was empty.  
  
Biting his lip slightly, Bakura walked to his 'usual' seat he hadn't sat at in a month, giving a depressed sigh as he slumped into it, looking down at the boxed lunch in his hands.  
  
Yuugi passed a note to him while the teacher's back was turned. 'What's wrong?'  
  
'He didn't come.' The paler boy wrote back quickly before pulling out his books.  
  
Yuugi glanced to Kaiba's seat in the back of the room. 'You know how he is. He'll probably be back tomorrow.'  
  
Bakura gave sighed softly, nodding and putting away the note before turning his attention to the teacher. His gaze kept sliding back to Kaiba's empty desk, Jounouchi's comments from the day before ringing in his ears.  
  
'Project's over. Now watch how fast he'll dump you,' the blond had said with finality.  
  
"And I have the grades for the household project, and I'm very pleased to announce one pair has received a perfect score," the teacher smiled. "A large congratulations to Bakura Ryou and Kaiba Seto.  
  
There was a small around of applause as the entire class looked at the pale boy, who gave a weak smile, trying to avoid Jounouchi's glare.  
  
Yuugi grinned and gave Bakura a thumbs up while Honda kicked Jounouchi.  
  
Bakura smiled softly as Yuugi and Anzu were named as third highest, the smaller boy blushing slightly as Anzu kissed him on the cheek, much to the amusement of the rest of class.  
  
Bakura looked at the boxed lunch that was sitting on his desk, only looking up as a paper was placed before him.  
  
"Congratulations, Bakura-san," the teacher smiled before moving to the next desk.  
  
The pale haired boy looked at the evaluation sheet, smiling softly at the teachers comments in each category. "Like a real couple, eh?" he read, eyes smile growing wistful.  
  
"THE THIRD LOWEST?!" Jounouchi near exploded looking over the paper.  
  
"Well, if you had let me show you how to take care of the damned doll, maybe we would have done better!" Honda snapped back.  
  
Jounouchi grumbled under his breath, scowling at his sheet.  
  
"Poor Honda-kun," Bakura smiled. "You might have done better on your own," he smiled.   
  
Honda grumbled something in return, crumbling the paper with their grades.  
  
Bakura smiled sympathetically before looking back at his own paper. He gave a small sigh, folding it and slipping it into his notebook, wondering what Kaiba was doing.  
  
Bakura sighed as he left the school. Most of the detention period had been the teacher lecturing him how just because he had gotten a perfect project grade with Kaiba, it was no reason for him to start acting like him, attendance wise.  
  
The limo was waiting for him.  
  
"Kaiba-sama told me to bring you to the mansion."  
  
Bakura blinked, then gave a small smile, nodding before getting into the limo. He almost nervously smoothed down his uniform, looking out the window.  
  
When they reached the mansion, the chauffeur opened the car door and bowed Bakura inside.  
  
The paler boy gave a small smile, nodding his head to the chauffeur as he entered Kaiba's mansion, still smoothing down his uniform.  
  
"Come up here," Kaiba ordered from the head of the stairs.  
  
Bakura gave a small smile, nodding as he almost hurried up. "Kaiba-kun," he smiled happily.  
  
Kaiba grabbed Bakura by the arm and dragged the boy into his bedroom. He pushed him down on his stomach on the bed and practically ripped his clothes off.  
  
The paler boy gave a small cry, curling up slightly, eyes wide and frightened as he tried to turn to look up at the taller boy. "Ka--Kaiba-kun...!" he half whimpered.  
  
Kaiba held him down. "You're nothing," he said, eyes cold as he swiftly prepared and then pushed into the other boy.  
  
Bakura gave a cry, tensing, burying his face in the pillow, trying to keep from breaking down. "Kaiba-kun..." he whimpered, voice pleading.  
  
"This was what you wanted, isn't it?" Kaiba asked tightly, moving within him. He held Bakura's hips tightly, fingers almost digging into the boy's flesh.  
  
Bakura gave a small pained cry. "Not like this..." he whispered, eyes watering. "Not like this..."  
  
"Am I hurting you?" Kaiba asked, leaning closer. He closed his eyes, smelling Bakura's scent, and slowly his arms moved so that he was holding Bakura close. He leaned closer, biting Bakura's neck.  
  
"You are..." the paler boy gasped, slowly melting into the familiar touch.  
  
"Mine," Kaiba whispered, blowing into Bakura's ear, fingers scraping lightly over Bakura's chest and stomach.  
  
Bakura gasped lightly, melting further as Kaiba's actions became more gentle. Kaiba's movement slowed as he pressed against Bakura's back, fingers moving to pleasure the smaller boy as he began licking his neck and then blowing on it almost tenderly. Bakura gasped, murmuring the taller boy's name lovingly as his body reacted.  
  
"Mine," Kaiba whispered again, not seeming to be aware of it as his movements quickened again, but still retained the careful nature of their previous times together.  
  
Bakura's breath quickened, lips parting as his face grew heated as he moved slightly to meet Kaiba's actions, arching to create more contact between them, feeling happy as Kaiba obliged.  
  
A short while later, he gave a sharp try as he came.  
  
Kaiba followed soon after, collapsing on top of Bakura as he caught his breath.  
  
The paler boy gave a contented murmur, nuzzling slightly against the taller boy as his eyes closed.  
  
Feeling the touch, Kaiba pulled back sharply. He looked at Bakura and down at his own hands, expression disgusted. Throwing Bakura's clothes on top of him, he walked to the door. "Get dressed and leave," he ordered coldly.  
  
Bakura looked up, expression confused and hurt as he sat up, hugging his clothing to him.  
  
Kaiba glared, then left the room, hands shaking almost imperceptibly with the urge to go back and hold Bakura tightly.  
  
Bakura pressed his lips together, looking down, thoughts chaotic as he slowly got dressed. Kaiba's actions... Bakura shook his head slightly. It was like the taller boy was fighting with himself...  
  
He gave small sigh, carefully standing up, wincing slightly as he almost limped to the door.   
  
He was met downstairs by the chauffeur. "Kaiba-sama said I should bring you home," the man said with a salute.  
  
Bakura gave a small nod, picking up his school bag from where he had dropped it. He hesitated, turning to look up towards Kaiba's room, pausing when he noticed a small surveillance camera. He gave a small sad smile before turning back to the chauffeur and leaving the building.  
  
Kaiba watched on the camera in his office, twitched once, then moved to a document he was working on on the laptop. After a moment he paused and replayed the moment from the camera.  
  
Then watched it again. And again.  
  
And after watching it ten more times he brought up older files of Bakura sitting in the couch across the office. He glanced up, strangely put out that the boy wasn't there.  
  
Bakura sighed heavily as the limo stopped in front of his apartment building, reaching for his bag. He paused a moment and pulled out the boxed lunch he had made for Kaiba that morning. He hadn't eaten it, almost hoping that Kaiba would show up later in the day and want it.  
  
Hesitating a moment he nodded, exiting the car. "Excuse me..?" he addressed the chauffeur, holding the box out. "If it's not too much trouble... could you give this to Kaiba-kun for me...?"  
  
The chauffeur blanched slightly, but bowed. "Yes, sir."  
  
Bakura gave a small apologetic smile before entering his apartment building.  
  
"Kaiba-sama...?" came a timid voice from the study entry.  
  
Kaiba looked up, scowling over the laptop at the maid. "What?"  
  
"The boy whom you had over this after noon requested this be given to you," the woman said politely, looking slightly nervous.  
  
Kaiba's eyes narrowed and his hands tightened into fists. "So leave it and go," he snarled.  
  
The woman nodded, timidly entering the room to place the small box on Kaiba's desk before near fleeing from the room.  
  
Kaiba looked at the lunchbox, then opened it with shaking hands. He looked at the neatly packed lunch, knowing it to be the type that many girls in their school made for their boyfriends. The scent of the food wafted to his nose and he decided that it wouldn't be Bakura's influence to eat it. He had to eat something. 


	11. Chapter 10

Bakura walked slowly to the school entry. Kaiba hadn't been in school again that day, the forth day in a row, adding both to Jounouchi's cockiness and belief that Kaiba's act had just been to get a good project grade, and to Bakura's confusion and worry that Jounouchi may have been right.   
  
He rubbed his forehead slightly, as if tired from mulling it over so much. There was something he wasn't understanding. The change in Kaiba's behavior, his growing possessiveness and twichyness...  
  
Bakura sighed, shoving his feet almost tiredly into his sneakers before exiting the building.  
  
The limo was waiting outside the school.  
  
Bakura paused, looking at it almost warily. 'I wonder what he wants this time....' he thought before near grimacing. 'You've started sounding like him now,' he chided himself. But still...  
  
He eyed the limo a moment more before deciding and approaching it.  
  
The chauffeur bowed slightly. "Kaiba-sama wants you to come to the mansion."  
  
Bakura nodded before silently getting in side, looking down at his bag as the car started up. What if Kaiba acted like he had before, only without 'softening' to his normal self? he worried, playing with the handle of his bag. 'But the shaking...' he thought, remembering Kaiba's barely noticeable tremble of repressed emotion. He could only hope that it was a positive emotion he was holding back, but if it was, why would he hold back?  
  
"Because emotions are for the weak," he sighed aloud, leaning back against the seat tiredly.   
  
The chauffeur glanced at him as they reached the mansion.  
  
"I don't know what he wants you for," he whispered as he held the door open. "But you should run while you have the chance."  
  
The pale haired boy blinked, looking alarmed. "Why...?" he asked, nervous.  
  
The man just looked at him pityingly, still holding the door.  
  
Timidly, Bakura entered, slowly removing his shoes in the entry, almost afraid to look up.  
  
Kaiba was once again waiting at the top of the stairs.  
  
Slowly, Bakura looked up at him, expression mixed with longing and worry. "Kaiba-kun," he said softly, placing his school bag down by his shoes.  
  
Kaiba's eyes roamed Bakura's body. "You're nothing special," he decided at last. "Come here."  
  
"If I'm nothing special, why did you call for me?" Bakura asked carefully as he headed up the stairs.  
  
"I knew you'd come," Kaiba said with a smirk of victory.  
  
"But why me?" Bakura pressed as he reached the boy. "If I'm nothing special, then having me is also nothing special and not worth your effort," he continued, looking into Kaiba's eyes as if searching for something.   
  
"Why waste my time finding someone else when I know you'll come?" Kaiba asked in return, grabbing Bakura by the arm and dragging him down the hall.  
  
The paler boy winced slightly. "And if I didn't? What then?"  
  
"Why wouldn't you? You 'like' me." Kaiba pushed Bakura down on the bed.  
  
"No," Bakura corrected softly, eyes closing. "I love you...."  
  
Kaiba pulled back, then flung Bakura out of his bed. "Get out!"  
  
The paler boy gave a small pained cry as he hit the floor, instinctively curling up slightly and hiding behind his arm to fend off any blows.  
  
Kaiba threw a pillow at him. "Get out!" he shouted again.  
  
Bakura whimpered and scrambled from the room, barely managing to get to his feet before near running down the stairs, breath coming quickly.  
  
He heard something crash behind him as he went.  
  
Shakily, Bakura jammed his feet into his sneakers and grabbed his bag, not even noticing as something fell from it as he hurried to the door, hand over his rapidly beating heart.  
  
By the time Mokuba got home later Kaiba had calmed down. He found the lunchbox and sat for a time, staring at it, before adding it to the leftover food in the freezer from some of the early lunches from Bakura and a stack of sandwiches made for him in the past few days. He went to his office and began immersing himself in his work, unheeding of Mokuba's pleas for him to eat and sleep.  
  
The doorbell rang. "Bakura-kun!" Yuugi called.  
  
There was a long pause before the door opened. "Hey, Yuugi-kun," the pale haired boy answered with a tired smile. His hair was mussed as if it hadn't been combed and his oversized button down shirt was miss-buttoned and rumpled.   
  
"Are you ok, Bakura-kun?" Yuugi asked worriedly.  
  
Bakura was quiet a long moment. "I... don't even know," he sighed, running a hand through his bangs.   
  
Yuugi slipped into the apartment. "Tell me what's going on, Bakura-kun."  
  
"You have an hour?" the pale boy smiled tiredly.  
  
"... and I ran down the stairs and nearly ran home, except the limo driver caught up and gave me a ride," Bakura gave a long exhale, leaning back against the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "I spent the whole ride home shaking...." he said softly. "I don't think I'd ever been so scared, and confused..." he sighed again, eyes closing. "I thought... I thought there was something there, a chance... I don't want Jounouchi-kun to have been right, but I can't figure out why Kaiba-kun's acting like this and the more I think about it the more I get nowhere and it's so exhausting...."  
  
"Why were you there in the first place?" Yuugi asked.  
  
"He sent for me," Bakura said, looking down with a slight blush.  
  
"For what?"  
  
Bakura's blush deepened slightly. "I-- I'm really not sure," he faltered.  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
Bakura fidgeted a moment. "I-- I...." he was quiet a moment. "He wants to believe it was just for sex, but the way he... the way he was... he was fighting against himself, Yuugi-kun. He'll probably want to kill me for telling you this, but I need to talk to someone." He looked down at his hands helplessly.  
  
Yuugi stared. "You've had sex with him?"  
  
Bakura's face went bright red and he nodded.  
  
Yuugi's eyes widened further. "What's it like?"  
  
Bakura's blush deepened further and he tried to hide his face behind his shirt collar.  
  
Yuugi blushed in turn. "Anzu wants to, but...."  
  
"But....?" Bakura asked, voice almost squeaking.  
  
"I don't think I'm ready," Yuugi admitted. "What's it like having sex with someone?"  
  
Bakura blushed again, smiling softly, eyes wistful. "It's wonderful," he said softly. "It's... you feel so much that it... I always need a rest after," he admitted.  
  
"You feel that with Kaiba?" Yuugi asked, smiling softly.  
  
Bakura ducked down again, giving a small nod. "I love him..." he said softly.  
  
"But after all of this you don't know what he thinks of you?"  
  
Bakura gave a deep sigh. "Kaiba-kun... is complicated..." he said slowly.  
  
"You can't talk to him?"  
  
Bakura shook his head slightly. "Not now... I--" he gave a long exhale. "There's something wrong, Yuugi-kun, and I don't know what it is except that I caused it."  
  
"No, Bakura!" Yuugi said, shaking his head. "It's not your fault!"  
  
The boy gave a small sad smile. "It is," he said softly. "It's something to do with me that's causing him to act this way."  
  
"But it's not your fault! Have you ever been mean to him?"  
  
Bakura shook his head.  
  
"Then it's not your fault." Yuugi hugged Bakura.  
  
The boy smiled, hugging back. "I know it's not, but it's me he's reacting too," he said softly.  
  
"I'm sure it'll be ok," Yuugi said optimistically. "I mean, if he can make you feel...." He blushed again.  
  
Bakura was quiet a long moment, looking thoughtful. "Maybe that's it..." he said softly.  
  
Yuugi blinked.  
  
"Ah, nothing, nothing!" Bakura smiled, waving his hand dismissivly. "Just thinking aloud."  
  
Yuugi glanced at a clock. "Ah! I have to meet Anzu! Will you be ok, Bakura-kun?"  
  
"Un," Bakura smiled. "Thanks for listening, Yuugi-kun."  
  
"Any time," Yuugi said with a smile. "We're friends." He waved and left.  
  
Bakura's smile faded slowly and he curled into his side, looking out across the room. "Is that it, Kaiba-kun?" he whispered softly. "Do I make you feel...?"  
  
---------------  
  
Noteness: Another 5 chapters edited! It's kinda hard, trying to trim down the 'smut' while leaving in the important parts of said smut @_@ Think it works better, for the most part though.   
  
Reviews appreciated. ^^ 


	12. Chapter 11

~chapter 11  
  
The phone rang.  
  
Bakura hurried to unlock the door to his apartment and barely managed to kick off his shoes before diving for the phone. "He-Hello?" he answered, voice slightly breathless.  
  
"There you are! I've been calling for hours! Where have you been?" Mokuba demanded.  
  
Bakura blinked. "Mo--Mokuba-kun...?" he asked in a bewildered voice.  
  
"Get over here now!" the boy ordered.  
  
"H-how?" Bakura stammered nervously. "Where-- where are you?"  
  
"I need your help with Niisama! Come quickly!"  
  
Bakura's eyes went wide. "I'll get a cab," he said quickly.  
  
"Hurry! I'll get the doctor." Mokuba hung up.  
  
"Doctor...?" Bakura whispered, eyes. He swore softly and ran for the door.  
  
"Mokuba-kun?!" Bakura called as he pushed open the door to the Kaiba home, trying not to panic. There was no sign of life anywhere on the grounds. No one had come to greet the cab and the door been unmanned and he was too worried to knock.  
  
"Up here!" the boy called from the top of the stairs. "Niisama's in there!" He pointed towards Kaiba's office.  
  
Bakura quickly removed his shoes and near ran up the stairs. "What happened? What's wrong with him?"  
  
"Go help him!" Mokuba begged. "Try to make him go to bed. I'll wait for the doctor." He scampered down the stairs in the direction of the door.  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment, looking at the door to Kaiba's study before cautiously pushing it open. "Kaiba-kun...?" he called softly.  
  
Kaiba was half slumped in his chair, poking at the laptop keyboard with a tired concentration, eyes half lidded with exhaustion.  
  
"Kaiba-kun..." Bakura walked over, eyes concerned. "You look exausted... you should get some sleep...." he said softly.  
  
"No," Kaiba answered in a pouty voice. "Busy."  
  
"You're typing one finger," Bakura pointed out. "You can get it done much faster after you've slept."  
  
"Go 'way."  
  
Bakura gave a small smile despite his worry. Kaiba was acting like he was a child. It was almost--  
  
He shook his head slightly. "Kaiba-kun...." He pulled the boy's hands away from the keys. "You need to go to sleep."  
  
Kaiba poutily glared up at him. "Busy," he repeated.  
  
"You can finish it later," Bakura said firmly, awkwardly closing the laptop cover with his elbow.  
  
Kaiba pouted. "Wanna type more," he whined.  
  
Bakura smiled fondly at the boy. "Later," he promised, gently tugging Kaiba's hands in the direction of the door.  
  
Kaiba resisted, pouting at Bakura, who did his best not to laugh. Kaiba was looking utterly adorable. "Come on," he tugged again, then shifted to put an arm around the taller boy to try and pull him from his chair.  
  
Kaiba nuzzled against him, arms snaking under the boy's shirt.  
  
Bakura gave a startled exclamation. "Ka--Kaiba-kun!" He tried to ignore the other boy's hands, shuffling a few steps forward, hoping Kaiba would follow.  
  
Kaiba leaned forward in his chair, nuzzle falling down to Bakura's stomach.  
  
Bakura gasped slightly, sucking in his stomach to try and get it out of range. "Ka--Kaiba-kun! Stop that, you need to get to bed, not---"  
  
Kaiba giggled and nuzzled him again.  
  
"Kaiba-kun!" Bakura exclaimed, face reddening as his body began to react to Kaiba's touches.   
  
Kaiba pouted and pulled Bakura forward by his pants.  
  
Bakura squeaked, eyes going wide. "Kaiba-kun!" he protested, blush deepening. "Kaiba-kun, please, we can do this later, you need to get some sleep before you'll be in any condition too--"  
  
"No. Wanna."  
  
Bakura gave a sigh. "Later," he promised. He paused a moment, then careful disengaged, taking a few steps back, hoping Kaiba would follow.  
  
Kaiba pouted at reached forward to grab Bakura's fly. He tugged at it, giggling at some of the buttons came undone.  
  
The paler boy squeaked again, barely managing to pull back another few steps out of range.  
  
Kaiba started whining incoherently, reaching out for Bakura.  
  
Bakura couldn't help but smile. "Come with me," he invited, holding out his hands.  
  
Kaiba took Bakura's hands and pulled the boy into his lap, taking the immediate opportunity to nibble on his ear.  
  
The boy gave another squeak, squirming slightly. "Ka--Kaiba-kun!" he protested, face heating up. "Not here, not now! You need to be in bed!"   
  
Kaiba giggled. "With you?" he asked into Bakura's ear.  
  
Bakura tried to get his breath under control. "If it'll get you to sleep," he returned.  
  
"Don' wanna sleep. Wan' play with Baaakura."  
  
"After you sleep, you're not in any condition to--" he gave another small startled exclamation and pushed Kaiba's hands out of his shirt, blushing again.  
  
"Not tired," Kaiba insisted.  
  
"When did you last get any sleep?"  
  
"Dunno," Kaiba admitted cheerfully, pushing his hands into Bakura's back pockets.  
  
Bakura squirmed slightly, trying to pull away. "Then you should get some sleep, else you'll pass out in the middle of it."  
  
"No," Kaiba pouted, squeezing his hands. "Wan' play."  
  
Bakura's blush deepened. "In bed, not here."  
  
"Ok," Kaiba said, not letting go and biting on Bakura's neck.  
  
Bakura's eyes went wide and he gasped. "Ka--Kaiba-kun!" he stammered, trying to push away. "Not here!"   
  
"Yes here," Kaiba insisted.  
  
"No," Bakura said firmly, trying to wriggle out of Kaiba's grip. "You need to--"  
  
"Bakura! I called the doctor again, he said--" Mokuba froze in the entry of the room. "... I did NOT need to see that!" he protested, shielding his eyes. "Niiisamaaaaa!"  
  
Kaiba giggled against Bakura's neck.  
  
"Kaiba-kun, please? We can do this in your bedroom," Bakura near begged, trying to ignore the tickle of Kaiba's breath. "Not here, not in front of Mokuba, please?"  
  
"Mokuba c'n leave," Kaiba protested in a soft whine. "Like it here."  
  
"It's nicer in your room," Bakura tried to convince. "We can have fun on your bed, you'll have more room to play."  
  
"Play?" Kaiba asked hopefully.  
  
"In your room," Bakura smiled.  
  
Kaiba smiled, hugging Bakura tightly.  
  
The paler boy hugged back, eyes troubled. If he wasn't so worried, he'd be enjoying Kaiba's affectionate actions, but the very fact that Kaiba was acting so differently....  
  
Kaiba's smile turned crafty as he groped Bakura.  
  
The boy gave a small startled exclamation. "Mou, Kaiba-kun!" he protested with a small laugh. "No more until you get to bed," he said sternly.  
  
Kaiba pouted and looked like he was going to cry.  
  
Bakura nearly melted, but caught himself. "So let's go to bed," he smiled, pulling out of Kaiba's embrace.  
  
Kaiba sniffled and reached for Bakura's hand.  
  
The paler boy gently took it and tugged him in the direction of the bedroom.  
  
Kaiba giggled and moved closer to Bakura, snuggling against him and trying to kiss him as they walked.  
  
Bakura smiled softly, putting an arm around the taller boy to help support him.  
  
Kaiba nuzzled him happily as they made lurching progress to his bedroom.  
  
Bakura smiled again and barely resisted the urge to muss his hair fondly.   
  
Finally, they reached Kaiba's bedroom and Bakura shifted to help Kaiba out of his duster as he maneuvered him towards the bed.  
  
Kaiba dropped his coat and then pants, and then pushed Bakura onto the bed.  
  
The paler boy gave a small startled exclamation. "Kaiba-kun, you should rest before you--"  
  
"No," Kaiba said poutily, climbing onto the bed and cuddling with Bakura. "Wan' my Bakura."  
  
Bakura gave a small smile, snuggling back. "We'll rest together, okay?"  
  
"But I wanna..." Kaiba leaned closer and whispered into Bakura's ear what he wanted to do.  
  
Bakura squirmed slightly, face heating up as he blushed. "But... You need to rest first."  
  
"Now!" Kaiba insisted.  
  
"No," Bakura said firmly, looking into Kaiba's eyes. "You need to sleep first or it won't be any good."  
  
Kaiba looked like he was going to cry again. "Bakura no like me?"  
  
"No, I like you!" Bakura insisted, putting a hand to Kaiba's cheek fondly as something inside him melted in happiness. "You just need to sleep first. After, then we can," he smiled.  
  
"Really?"  
  
Bakura nodded. "Promise."  
  
Kaiba smiled brightly and settled down, hugging Bakura as if he were a teddy bear.  
  
The paler boy smiled, snuggling close once again. It was nice, he reflected, to be able to snuggle without wondering when Kaiba's dislike of being touched would override his post coital bliss. It was also the first time he had really seen Kaiba without any of his defences. There was nothing cold and calculated about the Kaiba who held him. It was just unfortunate that he had to fall so far into exhaustion before he could lower his barriers....  
  
Kaiba sighed softly as he fell asleep, arms tightly wound around Bakura.  
  
Bakura smiled contentedly. "Was this what you were fighting to hide...?" he whispered, knowing he would get no answer.   
  
"Bakura?" Mokuba called almost timidly from the doorway. "It's it... safe?"  
  
The pale haired boy gave a small laugh. "Un. He's asleep."  
  
"Really?" Mokuba poked his head in the room and his eyes widened slightly a moment before he shook it off. "The doctor's here, just wanted to make sure you and Niisama were decent before I sent him in." He turned to call down the hallway before entering the room. "I can't believe you got him to sleep!" he grinned. "Last time he did this I had to put sleeping pills in a glass of water to make him pass out."  
  
"Last time? You mean this happens a lot?" Bakura asked, voice worried as he shifted slightly to look at the black haired boy. Kaiba shifted in his sleep, sighing again and burying his face against Bakura's shoulder and the paler boy smiled, gently stroking the sleeping boy's hair.  
  
"Not too often, only about two times before. I yelled at him and got him to go to bed one time when he had only been up for two days. He wasn't half as bad then," Mokuba commented, chuckling at his sleeping brother. He looked out the door. "You can come in, he's sleeping!" he called.  
  
The company doctor entered the room with a small bow. "Could you move away from him so I can examine him?" he requested of Bakura.  
  
"Un," the boy nodded, moving to try and slip out of Kaiba's hold.  
  
Kaiba whimpered slightly and held on tighter.  
  
"Kaiba-kun, you have to let go," Bakura said softly.  
  
Kaiba pressed his face against Bakura's shoulder and held on tightly in his sleep.  
  
Bakura gave a small sigh, again petting his hair to comfort him. "Can you check him like this? He won't let go..."  
  
The doctor hesitated a moment, then nodded, setting up his equipment.  
  
"Well?" Mokuba asked as the doctor set up the IV  
  
"I'd guess he'd been awake for over 120 hours, looks like he didn't eat much, if anything in that time period either. Let him sleep until he wakes on his own and then make sure he gets plenty of liquids and light foods."  
  
Bakura nodded. "I can make him soups."  
  
"That would be best. Careful not to jostle the IV any," the doctor warned before leaving.  
  
Bakura sighed, looking up at Kaiba's sleeping face again. "Ne, Mokuba-kun? Could you do me a favour?"  
  
"Sure! What?"  
  
Bakura carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "Could you go to my apartment and get the large brown teddy bear from my closet?"  
  
Mokuba blinked. "Sure." He hopped off his chair and took the key.   
  
Bakura gave a grateful smile. "Thanks."  
  
Mokuba nodded and left the room.  
  
Kaiba pulled restlessly on the IV, trying to curl away from it and closer to Bakura.  
  
"Don't, Kaiba-kun," Bakura said softly, putting a hand over the bandage holding it on as he moved closer.   
  
Kaiba sighed softly, relaxing.  
  
The paler boy smiled. "Don't worry," he promised, gently brushing Kaiba's bangs from his face. "I'll take care of you."  
  
Kaiba turned into the touch, murmuring incoherently.  
  
Bakura smiled again, reaching up slightly to kiss the boy before snuggling close again. 


	13. Chapter 12

Kaiba slowly woke up, blinking in confusion to find himself in his bed. The last he could really remember, he had been in his office, working on his laptop. He sat up slowly, putting aside the slightly ragged teddy bear that had been in his arms with distaste. He looked around, pushing down the dizziness he got from the motion. He'd have to get a light meal before he went back to work.  
  
Bakura was there. Why was his sometime playtoy in his room when they obviously had not been having sex and he thus had no reason or right to be there? He started to get up angrily to remove the other boy, but paused when he nearly passed out from dizziness.  
  
He frowned. Perhaps he'd been overdoing it a bit. He moved more slowly, then noticed an oddness about how the movement felt. Looking down, he saw that he wasn't wearing any pants.  
  
He freaked quietly, searching frantically for his pants and ignoring his dizziness and mild nausea.  
  
"Here..." Bakura said softly, holding out the black material as he looked at Kaiba with concerned eyes.  
  
Kaiba grabbed it away, stuffing his legs into the pantlegs. After quickly making sure he was wearing a shirt, he pulled on his trench, fists clenching in the material almost as if he were hugging himself.  
  
The paler boy was hesitant a moment before speaking. "You should eat something. I made some soup while you were asleep, I can heat it up for you," he offered.  
  
"I'm not hungry," Kaiba grated out, despite knowing his words for a lie and knowing that he should eat. "I have work to finish."  
  
"No," Bakura said firmly. "You haven't eaten in at least the two days you were asleep and I doubt you ate much before then. You need to eat before you do anything. Mokuba's handling the work."  
  
"I was asleep for 2 days?" Kaiba asked in a distracted tone, internally aghast at himself.  
  
Bakura nodded.   
  
"Then I have too much to catch up on to waste time eating." Kaiba went to rise, but was kept from it by the IV that was still in his arm. He threw it a confused glance, not sure why he hadn't noticed it before.  
  
"Not 'wasting time' eating and sleeping is what started this mess, Kaiba-kun!" Bakura exclaimed. He paused a moment, trying hard not to smile softly at the remnant of Kaiba's sleepy self. "You should eat. You can start your work again after you eat."  
  
Kaiba glared at him, but leaned back against the headboard. "Fine."  
  
Bakura blinked a moment, surprised at the lack of further argument. "I'll go get the soup. Will you be here when I get back or shall I bring it to you elsewhere?"  
  
"I'll be here," Kaiba said sullenly.  
  
Bakura nodded and exited the room.  
  
Kaiba curled his legs to his chest, hugging them as he tried to remember what had happened to get him in bed with an IV in his arm. He glanced over to the side as he rested his head on his knees. And with a teddy bear. He hadn't had a teddy bear since not long after his parents had died. Another boy at the orphanage had stolen it from him and he hadn't been able to get it back.  
  
But that wasn't going to answer the question of how he had gotten to bed without pants on. As he thought, he started to remember bits and pieces and he buried his face in his knees. He had made an idiot of himself in front of Bakura. No wonder the other boy was talking to him as if he were a child.  
  
"Kaiba-kun? May I come in?" Bakura called from the doorway.  
  
Kaiba quickly rearranged himself to be sitting properly before gruffly calling out that Bakura could enter if he wanted to.  
  
The paler boy slowly walked in, carefully balancing the tray. "It's mostly broth and I brought some crackers and juice," he said, setting it down on the desk. "And you can take out the IV, the doctor said it was only needed for when you were asleep," he smiled.  
  
Kaiba practically ripped out the IV, not managing to hide a slight wince. He looked at the food coolly. "What kind?"  
  
"The soup's chicken and the juice is orange. I can get different ones, I made a batch of vegetable soup as well yesterday."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I wanted to have it ready if you woke up."  
  
"Why?" Kaiba insisted, voice harsh. "What do you want from me this time."  
  
"I want you to get better," Bakura said truthfully, looking at the taller boy with compassion.  
  
Kaiba glared and sat up straighter. "I don't love you," he said clearly, intending the words to hurt so that Bakura would leave him alone and stop complicating his life. "Sometimes I find you amusing to play with. That's all."  
  
"I know," Bakura smiled softly.   
  
Snarling, Kaiba took the spoon and began to eat the soup, knowing enough not to eat it too quickly incase he choked.  
  
"Mokuba edited what you were working on so it was presentable," Bakura told him, sitting down. "And he sent all the staff away so they wouldn't bother you."  
  
Kaiba smiled slightly, face softening. "Of course he did."  
  
Bakura was quiet a moment before speaking. "He was worried about you," he said softly.   
  
Kaiba glared at Bakura. "Do not tell me how to run my life," he warned.  
  
"You're not taking care of yourself," Bakura pointed out. "Someone has to...."  
  
Kaiba glared, rising slowly to tower over Bakura.  
  
The boy trembled slightly, but met his eyes, trying to keep his breath calm.  
  
"I will do what I want," Kaiba said, eyes blazing. "No one - NO ONE - will tell me how to live my life."  
  
"I'm not telling you how to live it. I'm trying to show you how to STAY living it," Bakura countered.  
  
"Get out," Kaiba ordered, pointing at the door.  
  
Bakura looked at him a moment more before getting to his feet. "There's more soup in the main refrigerator," he said. "Do you want me to tell Mokuba you're awake?"  
  
"No. Just leave." Kaiba threw the teddy bear at him. "Get out of my house and my life."  
  
Bakura caught it and held it closely before turning and leaving the room.  
  
Kaiba struggled to control his breathing, smashing the glass of juice against the door behind Bakura although he wasn't sure if it was for arguing with him or for giving in. All he knew was that he was through having others tell him what to do. Through! Now he told them. And that was how it was going to stay.  
  
He struggled for control. Bakura had gone. That was as it should be. He was alone again.  
  
Alone.... Fighting off the twitch that came to him when he thought that word, he sat and picked up the spoon again. The soup was good. Just because Bakura made it didn't mean he should stop eating it. 


	14. Chapter 13

~chapter 13  
  
Bakura gave a deep sigh as he folded his arms on his desk, resting his chin on them. Despite Yuugi's best efforts, he hadn't been able to finish catching up on his missed work, and with his notes and books at Kaiba's...  
  
He sighed again, eyes melancholy, wondering if he should have done something different. He gave a small fond smile, thinking of how Kaiba had pouted, then winced, remembering the angry glare and the shattering of glass when the boy had awoken. 'Give him time,' he coached himself. And then at the very least he could go get his books and bag from Kaiba's house. Maybe he could get Mokuba to get them for him if Kaiba seemed really mad. He didn't want to---  
  
His thoughts trailed off as the door to the class slid open.  
  
Kaiba entered the room without looking at anyone and sat at his desk. He pulled his book out, hands trembling almost imperceptibly and began reading. Or at least seemed to be reading. The pages didn't turn with their usual regularity.  
  
Bakura grimaced, ignoring Jounouchi's usual comment on Kaiba's entrance and trying to hide his concern for the taller boy, lest anyone else catch it. Kaiba should not have been in school. He had nothing to gain from it and he was obviously in no shape to be there. Bakura paused and gave a small smile. 'Obvious to me,' he thought. To everyone else, it just looked like Kaiba was normal. 'But that haven't spent over two months trying to get to know him,' he sighed mentally. He couldn't just go over to him now, class was about to start and if Kaiba was in poor enough condition that Bakura could tell...  
  
The pale haired boy sighed again. He would try and talk to him a lunch. It was as private as you could get in school when everyone else was eating....  
  
The pages of Kaiba's book turned very slowly through the class, and although the brunet tried to hide it, Bakura could tell that Kaiba was conscious of every time he was called for an answer in the class, and could see the quickly cut off nod every time he answered correctly. Thankfully, because of Yuugi's clever explanations of Bakura's 'sick relative' he had been tending to the past few days, the teacher hadn't asked the pale boy anything he couldn't answer, for which he was grateful. The smaller boy believed Bakura had been caring for Mokuba, rather then Kaiba and Bakura knew better then to correct him. He had purposely avoided saying which Kaiba he had been caring for when explaining his situation to Yuugi. He knew Kaiba would never forgive anyone, especially his rival, knowing he had ever been weak.  
  
He gave a relieved exhale as the class broke. Concentrating on both class and Kaiba while not letting on he was, plus the pressure of feeling he had to answer every question correctly for fear of how it would effect Kaiba had been nerve-wrackingly stressful. He looked over at were his friends were gathering before heading to lunch. "Ne, Yuugi-kun," he called to the smaller boy. "Save a spot for me at the table? I have a few things I need to finish before I head to lunch."  
  
"Un!" Yuugi smiled. "Aa! Jounouchi-kuuun!" he exclaimed, horrified as the blond chuckled at Anzu's growing irritation at him.  
  
Bakura tuned the antics out, pretending to be looking through his book as the class filtered out, but keeping his attention to where Kaiba was still sitting.  
  
Kaiba didn't even look up as the class filed out. His only allowance for solitude was that he let the book rest against the desk rather than holding it up.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Bakura rose to his feet, walking over to the other boy's desk. "Kaiba-kun... you shouldn't be here," he said in concern. "Your hands are shaking..."  
  
"Go to lunch," Kaiba said coldly.  
  
Bakura nearly sighed. "Not until you go home and rest," he said firmly. "People are going to start noticing you're acting different. You weren't even arrogant to the teacher when you were called on!"  
  
"I told you to leave me alone," Kaiba said intensely.  
  
"You're not going to get any better if you don't take care of yourself, Kaiba-kun," Bakura pointed out.   
  
Kaiba surged to his feet. "I said leave me alone!" he shouted, hands balled into fists.  
  
Bakura took a step back, eyes wide in surprise and fear.   
  
"Now go away!"  
  
"Kaiba-kun, please just listen to me," Bakura said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. "You need to go home. You're not well and--"  
  
Kaiba held his hands so tightly that his arms trembled, nails practically drawing blood. "No one tells me what to do," he said softly. "NO ONE!" he screamed.  
  
Bakura took another step back, utterly petrified.  
  
"Now go away and stop trying to control me," Kaiba said with a venomous look.  
  
"I'm not trying to control you!" Bakura insisted, voice heavy with worry and fear. "I'm trying to keep you from destroying yourself!"  
  
"I can take care of myself," Kaiba said, struggling to breathe normally. "And Mokuba, so stay away from him too. Now go!" He raised a shaking hand to point to the door.  
  
"I won't," Bakura said, trying to keep his voice firm.   
  
Kaiba's trembling increased until he couldn't stand anymore. He sat, resting his head in his hands. "Go," he said softly.  
  
"Kaiba-kun..." Bakura took a hesitant step forward. "Please. Let me try and help?" he begged softly.  
  
"Go," Kaiba said again, voice almost pleading.  
  
"Will it make you better?"  
  
"I'm fine," Kaiba said tightly.  
  
"No, you're not," Bakura said softly.  
  
"I will be once you stop bothering me."  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment, then nodded. "I'm going to go to lunch," he said finally. "If you need anything from me..." he trailed of before turning to exit the room.  
  
Kaiba slowly picked his book up again, opening it and smoothing the pages that had bent when he dropped it.  
  
Bakura hesitated at the door to the Kaiba mansion. He knew Kaiba never answered the door, letting Mokuba or one of the servants do it so he wouldn't be disturbed from his work, but he couldn't help worrying what would happen if Kaiba was the one to answer if he did knock.  
  
The pale haired boy gave a sigh. He couldn't just stand in front of the door like an idiot all day, he reasoned with himself. He needed to talk to Mokuba and at the very least get his books. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the button for the doorbell and pressed it.  
  
He fidgeted slightly as he waited for the door to be opened. 'Hopefully Kaiba hasn't told his staff not to let me in,' he worried silently as he looked around the yard a moment. Frowning slightly, he rang again, getting more nervous. Normally the staff would have answered the door before he could ring twice....  
  
Worry increasing, he rang the bell a third time. Even if he'd been barred from the mansion, someone would have come out to tell him so by now, unless....  
  
'Unless something was wrong with Kaiba-kun,' he thought, eyes going wide.   
  
He hesitated a moment more before testing the doorknob. Finding it unlocked, he turned it and pushed the door open. "Mokuba-kuuuun!" Bakura called as he stepped inside, sliding his sneakers off. "Mokuba-kun, are you in?!"  
  
There was a momentary clatter from upstairs before Mokuba appeared at the top of the staircase. "Bakura!" he called in a relieved voice. "It's niisama! Come help niisama!"  
  
"What happened?" Bakura called back, hurrying up the stairs.  
  
"I don't know!" Mokuba said, near tears now that someone was there to take care of his brother.  
  
Bakura gave him a quick hug. "Where is he?"  
  
"In his room," Mokuba said, pointing, although Bakura didn't need to be shown.  
  
The paler boy nodded, hurrying down the hallway. "Kaiba-kun...?" he called hesitantly, knocking on the door.  
  
There was no response from Kaiba, and Bakura could hear incoherent sobbing from the other side of the door.  
  
Bakura swore softly under his breath. "I'm coming in, okay?" he called before slowly turning the knob and pushing the door open.  
  
Kaiba was curled in a ball in the corner, knees to his chest and face pressed against his knees. He shuddered with half suppressed sobs.  
  
"Kaiba-kun?" Bakura called softly, moving to kneel before the boy. "What's the matter?"  
  
Kaiba didn't acknowledge him.  
  
"Kaiba-kun, please..." Bakura reached out to touch the trembling boy but stopped, knowing it would just make Kaiba worse.   
  
As if feeling the aura of Bakura's hand, Kaiba pulled away, shaking his head frantically.  
  
The paler boy pulled back, eyes concerned. "Who did this to you?" he asked softly.  
  
Kaiba shuddered at the nearby voice, trying to make himself smaller. His arms moved from hugging his knees to covering his head as if he expected a blow.  
  
Bakura slowly reached out to gently touch the boy's hand. "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised.  
  
Kaiba whimpered, flinching back from the touch.  
  
"I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," Bakura repeated, his hand lightly covering Kaiba's own.  
  
The shuddering increased for a moment, then returned to how it had been when Bakura entered.  
  
"Tell me what I can do to help you," Bakura requested softly.  
  
Kaiba's responding whimpers were incoherent as he peeked up at Bakura with tear-stained cheeks, then hid his face again.  
  
The paler boy looked pained and it took every bit of self control he had to keep from putting his arms around Kaiba to hug him, knowing that it would only cause the upset boy to get worse. "Kaiba-kun...."  
  
The brunet whimpered again, hearing his name.  
  
Bakura hesitated a moment. "Seto-kun," he tried again.  
  
Kaiba peeked up at him again.  
  
Bakura gave him soft smile. "What can I do to make you feel better?" he asked gently.  
  
Kaiba reached for him jerkily, as if he didn't want to.  
  
Bakura continued to smile softly, not moving away or closer.  
  
After a few moments of hesitation, Kaiba buried himself against Bakura's chest, sobbing softly.  
  
The paler boy gently put his arms around him, holding him comfortingly. "It's okay, I'll take care of you," he promised, gently stroking Kaiba's hair.   
  
Slowly, he began to understand some of what Kaiba whimpered into his shirt.  
  
"So tired... Want to sleep... Can't think like this... Don't understand... Make him stop... Make him stop!"  
  
"He's not here anymore, Seto-kun," Bakura promised. "You can sleep, I'll watch over you."  
  
Kaiba didn't seem to hear or understand. "Not weak.... Tired! Hurts...." he shuddered, huddling closer to Bakura.  
  
Bakura hugged him closer, resting his cheek on his hair, slowly rocking the brunet to try and sooth him. "It'll all be okay, Seto-kun," he assured. "I'll take care of you."  
  
"Make him stop," Kaiba begged softly. "Hurts."  
  
"I won't let him hurt you anymore," Bakura promised. "I'll stay with you if you want me to, and I won't let anyone hurt you."  
  
Kaiba sobbed himself into exhaustion, curled against Bakura.  
  
Carefully, Bakura shifted to try to get the taller boy to his bed, keeping his arms around him. "Mokuba-kun?" he called, hoping the boy was within hearing distance as he stumbled slightly, Kaiba's dead weight nearly making him fall.  
  
Mokuba hurried in, eyes widening as he saw Kaiba. "What's wrong?" he asked Bakura worriedly as he helped the other boy lift his brother into bed.  
  
"Leftovers from the exhaustion, I think," Bakura half lied, thankful that Kaiba's face was hidden against his shirt so Mokuba wouldn't be able to see his brother had been crying.   
  
"Will niisama get better now?" Mokuba asked.  
  
"He should," Bakura smiled. "He just needs to rest more. I'll stay with him until he wakes up again."  
  
Mokuba nodded. "What should I do?" he asked.  
  
"Make sure there's no long strings of S's on what ever's open on the laptop?"  
  
Mokuba smiled, thinking of his brother's tired ramblings about how the keys made a tapping noise and that the letter 's' looked funny. After a moment, his smile drained. "Niisama hasn't been working since he woke up from that."  
  
Bakura near grimaced. "Maybe he was too tired to," he reasoned. "Has he been eating?"  
  
Mokuba nodded. "Mostly your soup."  
  
The paler boy smiled softly, stoking Kaiba's hair fondly. "I'll have to make more of it then," he laughed lightly.   
  
Mokuba smiled again. "I'll go get out things so you can," he said.  
  
Bakura smiled gratefully. "Thanks."  
  
Mokuba looked at Kaiba sadly, then left the room. "If you need anything, call me."  
  
"Thanks, Mokuba-kun. I'll be here," Bakura smiled jokingly.  
  
He gave a small sigh, turning his attention back to the boy in his arms. He wanted to ask Mokuba if he had any idea what had happened to Kaiba when he was younger, but knew it would only worry the boy more as well as make Kaiba angry with him later. He sighed again, shifting slightly to hold the unconscious boy more comfortably.  
  
He paused, feeling a strange, almost lumpy texture to the back of Kaiba's shirt. Frowning slightly, he ran his fingers over it. The front of Kaiba's shirt didn't feel like that, what would be--  
  
'Make him stop,' Kaiba's voice begged softly in his memory. 'Hurts.'  
  
Bakura's eyes went wide in horrified realization. It was Kaiba's back... textured with extensive scaring, that was what he was feeling.   
  
He hugged Kaiba tightly, burying his face in his hair. "No wonder you never took your shirt off," he whispered, wishing he could do something to make the wounds, both external and internal, disappear.  
  
--  
  
Note: While it is never shown in canon weither or not Gozaburo beat Kaiba or similar, the fact that he denied him sleep and made him wear a collar while holding a riding crop under his chin [scans avaible or look at the latest Shonen Jump [March 04 issue I beleive]] makes it a beleivable possiblity. To us anyway. ^^ 


	15. Chapter 14

Kaiba woke up slowly, feeling very disoriented. Where was he this time? He looked around and discovered that he was in his bed again and that Bakura was nearby. Wondering what idiocy he had made of himself this time, he sat up slowly.  
  
"...-kun...?" Bakura asked sleepily, eyes opening half way to look at the boy.  
  
Kaiba looked down at him. "You're awake," he said emotionlessly.  
  
"So are you," Bakura smiled, propping himself up slightly.   
  
"Yes," Kaiba acknowledged. "You can leave now."  
  
"Kaiba-kun... why do you keep pushing me away?" Bakura asked softly, eyes saddened.  
  
"Pushing you away implies that you were close to start with," Kaiba said.  
  
The paler boy looked at him a moment. "It's like there's two of you; the Kaiba-kun on the outside and the Seto-kun on the inside that you don't want anyone to see..."  
  
Kaiba flinched slightly. "Don't call me that."  
  
"Don't call you which?"  
  
"Which do you think?" Kaiba asked with a venomous glare.  
  
Bakura was quiet a moment. "Why does it bother you, Kaiba-kun?"  
  
"Should I be pleased by your lack of respect?" Kaiba growled.  
  
"It's not a lack of respect. If I knew your first last name, I'd call you by that instead. Should I call you Seto-sama instead when you don't want to be a Kaiba?"  
  
Kaiba twitched.  
  
"Sorry," Bakura said softly, looking down.   
  
"Why do you try so hard to make me think you care?"  
  
"If I didn't care, I wouldn't have come either time," Bakura pointed out.  
  
Kaiba just glared.  
  
Bakura sighed, sitting up and smoothing down his hair. "I'll go make you more soup then, if you don't want to talk about it," he said, getting up.  
  
"There's still left from the last time you attacked the kitchen," Kaiba pointed out.  
  
Bakura gave a small smile. "I told Mokuba-kun that I'd make more since you actually ate it. I can make something else for you if you'd like," he offered.  
  
The brunet snorted. "You'll do whatever you want anyway."  
  
"I do what I think is best," Bakura corrected.  
  
Kaiba snorted and leaned back against his headboard.  
  
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Bakura looked at the boy a moment longer before leaving the room.  
  
Kaiba draped his arms around his knees and brooded. Bakura apparently knew something that he shouldn't know, although Kaiba didn't know what it was. The circular thinking eventually annoying him, Kaiba used the bathroom to clean up from rather obvious signs of crying and went in search of his brother and Bakura. After looking for Mokuba in several places he went to the kitchen.  
  
"Aaaa! Mokuba-kun, not so much!" he heard Bakura's voice laugh. "It just needs a little bit of onion!"  
  
"But I like onion! It makes it taste better."  
  
Kaiba sat at the table watching them.  
  
"Now what?"  
  
"Two tablespoons of basil."  
  
"Basil? What kinda of recipe is this anyway?"  
  
Bakura laughed again. "It's an Italian one. I learned it from one of the scholars at a museum that some of my father's finds are at."  
  
"Eeee?!" Mokuba exclaimed, eyes wide with interest. "You dad works for a museum?"  
  
Bakura's sad grew slightly saddened. "He did," he nodded. "I even got to go see one of his digs once."  
  
"That's so cool!" Mokuba grinned.   
  
Kaiba found himself enjoying the fact that neither other boy had noticed him and he could watch them unobserved.  
  
"Aaa! Mokuba-kun, the basil!" Bakura interrupted himself.  
  
"Right!" Mokuba exclaimed, turning. He paused, eyes wide. "Niisama!" he exclaimed happily, running over to give the boy a hug. "You're better!"  
  
Kaiba returned the hug. "Get the basil," he said softly, smiling at his brother.  
  
"Un!" Mokuba let go and near scrambled over to the cabinet. "Catch!" he grinned, tossing it at Bakura who awkwardly caught it. "Bakura's been showing me how he cooks," Mokuba announced, sitting next to his brother.  
  
"Bakura is very willing to tell people how to do things," Kaiba said, raising a brow.  
  
Mokuba laughed. "He keeps getting annoyed because I keep changing his recipe on him. "He wanted to use celery," the boy made a face. "I wouldn't let him," he smirked cockily.  
  
"He couldn't know how much you hate celery," Kaiba said, putting an arm around his brother.  
  
"He knows now," Mokuba grinned. "Hey, Niisama, can he stay here?"  
  
"He may cook as long as he likes," Kaiba said with dry amusement.  
  
"No, I mean longer then that. He can stay here and you can fire the annoying fat cook who never makes good desserts and Bakura can cook! And take me places because you're always too busy."  
  
Bakura's eyes were wide. "Mo--Mokuba-kun!" he exclaimed. He gave a small, almost forced laugh. "You sound like you want me to replace half your staff! Are you going to pay me?"  
  
"Why not?" Mokuba grinned. "And you can make sure Niisama sleeps." He gave his brother a mild glare.  
  
Kaiba pressed his lips together. "He has a home of his own. And I don't want his 'friends' coming to visit him here."  
  
"Mou, Niisama," Mokuba pouted briefly. "Hey, Bakura, you said you live by yourself, right? So it wouldn't be a problem! He can move in to one of the rooms on the other side that we don't use."  
  
"Mokuba-kun...." Bakura's voice was slightly pained.  
  
"Some people like living alone, Mokuba. Don't push him."  
  
"But he cooks better then the cooks we have and you like him!"  
  
Kaiba frowned. "Mokuba," he said warningly.  
  
"At least have him over to cook, maybe then you'll remember to eat," Mokuba scowled, arms crossed stubbornly.  
  
"I remember to eat as much as I need to."  
  
"Like you sleep as much as you need to?" Mokuba countered stubbornly.  
  
"Mokuba," Kaiba said in a warning voice.  
  
"You worried me, Niisama..."  
  
Kaiba put a hand on Mokuba's head. "I had work to do."  
  
"You didn't sleep for almost a week!"  
  
"Mokuba," Kaiba said again in warning.  
  
"No! You can't do this again, Niisama!" Mokuba exclaimed. "I don't want to lose you!"  
  
"You won't," Kaiba promised.  
  
"You wouldn't listen to me," Mokuba near sniffled. "And Bakura barely got you to bed. And then you got worse again today!"  
  
Kaiba shot a brief glare at Bakura. "I'm fine, Mokuba."  
  
The smaller boy near pouted, arms crossed. "You better stay fine."  
  
Kaiba sighed softly.  
  
Bakura silently placed a place down in front of each of the Kaibas before getting one for himself and sitting.  
  
Kaiba poked at the food. Noting his brother's scrutiny, he eat a forkful. "Yes, it's better than what Gozaburo's cooks make," he said, taking another bite.  
  
"Seeeeeeeee? And you actually eat when Bakura cooks," Mokuba smirked.  
  
Kaiba dropped his fork and stalked out of the room.  
  
There was a soft knock at the door of Kaiba's study. "Kaiba-kun....?" Bakura's voice called.  
  
There was no answer.  
  
The door slowly opened and the pale haired boy looked in cautiously. "Kaiba-kun?" he called again.  
  
Kaiba was standing in front of his desk, staring at something on it and shaking slightly.  
  
Bakura carefully put down the tray he had been carrying and walked over. "Kaiba-kun, are you all right?" he asked, voice concerned.  
  
Kaiba continued staring at a picture of much younger versions of himself and Mokuba with their adoptive father behind them, not seeming to have heard.  
  
The paler boy hesitated a moment. "Seto-kun?" he called again.  
  
Kaiba started, looking over at Bakura before reaching a hand out and taking hold of the picture. Without a change of expression, he smashed the glass. Reaching through the shattered glass, he pulled out the picture and tore it in half, replacing the part with himself and his brother carefully into the frame.  
  
"Aaa!" Bakura exclaimed, quickly going to the boy's side and taking his hand, examining it, gave a small relieved sigh when he didn't find any cuts.  
  
Kaiba sat down and opened the laptop as if nothing strange had happened.  
  
Bakura held in his sigh and went to work getting rid of the pieces of the shattered glass, carefully extracting them from the frame.  
  
Kaiba barely acknowledged his presence, looking through files on the laptop without opening any.  
  
"I brought up your dinner in case you wanted any more of it," Bakura said softly, nodding to where he had put the tray. "Did you want me to bring it over?"  
  
Kaiba grunted. "Whatever."  
  
The pale haired boy hesitated a moment, then retrieved the tray, carefully setting it in a clean spot on the desk. He hesitated again as Kaiba continued to ignore him, then spoke. "Would you let me stay?"   
  
Kaiba grunted again. "Don't interrupt me."  
  
Bakura bowed his head and nodded. "Gomen," he said softly. He looked at Kaiba a moment more before exiting the room.  
  
Kaiba glanced after Bakura a moment, then went back to looking through his documents for one without his adoptive father's influence on it. After a few hours he gave up, pulling another framed picture from a drawer and curling onto the couch, hugging it close. Slowly, he fell asleep.  
  
"Seto-kun?" Bakura called softly.  
  
Without opening his eyes, Kaiba swiped at the voice with one hand, curling closer around his picture.  
  
Bakura gave a startled exclamation, moving back some. He looked at the boy a moment more before getting to his feet.  
  
He returned a short while later with one of Kaiba's blankets and gently draped it over the boy.  
  
Kaiba reached out again and pulled Bakura down onto the couch, cuddling close to him.  
  
Bakura nearly squeaked in surprise as he fell. He nearly gave a small embarrassed laugh and looked up at Kaiba with a fond smile. Shifting slightly to be more comfortable, he snuggled closely. 'My Seto-kun,' he thought fondly as he settled down to sleep.  
  
Kaiba smiled in his sleep, leaning his forehead against Bakura.  
  
------  
  
Note: Bakura's father is not actualy dead in canon, but at the time of writing this, we didn't know that [It was mentioned in the AE arc by Yami Bakura that Bakura's father owns the musium, so safe to assume he is still living.]. So, for purpouses of this fic, Bakura's father is not amoung the living. ^^ 


	16. Chapter 15

~chapter 15!  
  
"Bakuraaaaaaaa! Where are you?! It's morning and Iiiiiiii'm hungry!"  
  
Bakura's eyes opened slowly and he nearly groaned. "Mou, Mokuba-kun..." he sighed softly, burying his face in Kaiba's chest without thinking.  
  
Kaiba blinked awake and pulled back from Bakura abruptly.  
  
"Aa! Sorry!," the boy grimaced, scrambling to his feet.   
  
Kaiba glared at him and stood slowly.  
  
Bakura headed for the door. "Mou, Mokuba-kun!" he called.  
  
"Aaa! There you are!" Mokuba grabbed the boy's hand and started dragging him down the hall, listing off what he wanted the paler boy to cook for him.  
  
Kaiba followed, scowling at how his brother had usurped his pet.  
  
"Mokuba-kun!" Bakura was protesting with a small laugh. "By the time I make all that, it'll be lunch!"  
  
The boy just laughed.  
  
"Why don't you let Bakura decide what he wants to cook," Kaiba said with a disapproving frown.  
  
"Eh?" Mokuba looked over at his bother. "Why?  
  
Kaiba continued frowning and sat at the table, still clutching the picture in one hand.  
  
"Ne, Kaiba-kun?" Bakura asked as he located what he needed. "Did you want something for breakfast?"  
  
"If you cook something I might eat it," Kaiba allowed, noticing the picture in his hand. He looked at it a long moment, then held it close.  
  
"Cook mine first!" Mokuba insisted impatiently. "Niisama can always have some of mine!"  
  
Bakura gave a small laugh at the boy. "Mou, Mokuba-kun," he reproached lightly as he mixed.   
  
Mokuba waited impatiently until Bakura set down his breakfast plate. "Itadakimaaaaaaaau!" he exclaimed happily before near attacking the food.  
  
Bakura gave a small sigh, shaking his head in amusement before setting a smaller portion down in front of Kaiba. He paused a moment, looking at the boy. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.  
  
"I'm fine," Kaiba said sharply, putting the picture face down in his lap while he ate.  
  
"Sorry..." Bakura apologized before heading back to the stove to start Mokuba's second request.   
  
Bakura gave a small sigh, picking up the plates that Mokuba had left after finishing his five course breakfast and depositing them in the sink before serving himself and sitting in the seat the boy had vacated.  
  
Kaiba dropped his own plates in the sink. He glanced at Bakura a moment, then turned on the water and began washing the dishes.  
  
"It's all right, Kaiba-kun, I can get that after I'm done," the paler boy assured.  
  
Kaiba glared at him. "If I minded I wouldn't have started."  
  
Bakura gave a small embarrassed smile, then nodded. "Thanks."  
  
Kaiba continued with the dishes, ignoring Bakura.  
  
The paler boy paused, noticing the framed picture where Kaiba had been sitting. "Ne, what's that?" he asked, nodding towards it.  
  
Kaiba whirled, snarling, brandishing the soapy fork he had been washing. "Leave it alone."  
  
Bakura shrank back some. "O-- okay..." he stammered.  
  
Kaiba glared at him a moment longer, making sure he was obeying, then calmly turned and went back to his washing.  
  
Bakura quietly finished eating and picked up his place and utensils, bringing them over to the sink where Kaiba took them from him and added them to the pile he was washing.  
  
"Is Mokuba-kun always this demanding in the morning?" Bakura asked with a smile as he leaned against a near by counter, watching Kaiba work.  
  
"Mokuba always gets his way," Kaiba said simply.  
  
Bakura gave a small laugh, nodding. "Un. He wouldn't let me go home last night. He even hid my shoes!" he laughed again.  
  
Kaiba shook his head. "Don't indulge him if you don't want to do something."  
  
"I don't mind," Bakura smiled fondly. "There's no school today so there's no harm in it."  
  
"If you let him do it now he'll do it again when it's less convenient."  
  
"I'll have to bring a spare pair of sneakers then, or a cell phone to call Yuugi-kun for a rescue," Bakura joked.  
  
Kaiba twitched at Yuugi's name.  
  
"Sorry..." Bakura looked down.   
  
"You apologize too much," Kaiba said coldly, turning off the water. He picked up his picture and left.  
  
Bakura sighed, looking after him a moment before exiting the room as well.  
  
"Aaa, Mokuba-kun!" Bakura's laugh reached Kaiba's ears. "Is there any game you're not an expert at?"  
  
"Nope!" the boy replied, tone cocky.  
  
Kaiba growled, looking up from the gutting of his files. The other boys were near enough that he could hear them and it was distracting him. Getting up, he stalked to the game room.  
  
He pulled down the chess board and set it in front of Mokuba. "An expert at everything?" he challenged.  
  
The boy looked up with a laugh. "Okay, maybe not everything," he admitted with a smile shifting to face the board fully.  
  
Kaiba held out two pawns to the boy, the same ones he'd had Bakura choose between. Mokuba happily choose the white one and began setting up his side. Kaiba sat opposite and set up the dark pieces. He glanced up at Bakura. "This," he said, emphasizing the word, "is how chess is played."  
  
The pale haired boy nodded, placing a chair to the side of the board to watch.  
  
The game progressed quickly, neither one of them losing any pieces as they set up their strategies. Before long, Mokuba's traps became clear, but Kaiba's took much longer to discern. Bakura watched intently as if studying, nodding slightly to himself periodically in understanding. Mokuba took several of Kaiba's pieces and was looking cocky and pleased with himself when Kaiba's traps began springing. Within four turns, Mokuba was checkmated.  
  
The small boy gave a laugh. "Just like always, niisama!" he smiled.   
  
"Hn," Kaiba said, sitting back. He looked at Bakura. "He isn't as good as he thinks he is. Stay to your plans," he told his brother.   
  
"Sure, sure," Mokuba smiled. "Niisama's the only one who can beat me," he grinned at Bakura.  
  
The pale haired boy gave a small laugh.   
  
Kaiba looked steadily at Bakura. "Bakura could beat you," he said. "If he tried."  
  
Bakura started slightly, looking at Kaiba.  
  
"You think he could?" Mokuba smirked.   
  
"I do. If he thinks he can."  
  
Bakura looked between the Kaibas a moment, then at the board, expression heavy with thought. He blinked a moment, then gave a smile. "Ne, Mokuba-kun," he said, looking at the boy. "I think Kaiba-kun's right."  
  
"You think you can beat me? Ha! You're on!" Mokuba grinned.  
  
Kaiba rose to give his place to Bakura. "Mokuba takes white," he said, handing the pale boy the dark pieces.  
  
Bakura nodded, accepting.   
  
Kaiba sat back to watch the game, nodding in approval as Bakura started to set up his traps. Mokuba, apparently not seeing them, kept breaking out of his own strategy to take Bakura's pieces, thus falling into the paler boy's traps. Kaiba smirked lightly, watching as his brother slowly made his way toward being checkmated.  
  
Bakura's hand was shaking slightly. His modified strategy was working better then he had expected it to, but he was still nervous. He checked the board yet again. Everything was perfectly set up. Mokuba's queen was blocked off by his pawns and all his other pieces were in place expect the last one. Very slowly, he moved the last pawn into place. Checking one last time to see if he had left any openings, he smiled. "Checkmate," he said softly.  
  
Mokuba blinked. "No way!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.  
  
Kaiba nodded in satisfaction. "He has beaten you," he confirmed.  
  
Mokuba gave a heavy sigh. "Aw, maaan!" he near pouted, crossing his arms in a small sulk.   
  
"Sorry, Mokuba-kun," Bakura smiled. "Kaiba-kun was right. You do need to stick to your plans."  
  
Kaiba rose and pulled Bakura to his feet. "Now you're coming with me," he ordered.  
  
The pale boy looked vaguely nervous at Kaiba's tone, but nodded.  
  
"But niisamaaa!" Mokuba near whined. "I was still playing with him."  
  
"Find something else to do," Kaiba said with a small glare.  
  
Mokuba pouted. "At least let me beat him in another game first?"  
  
"You can play with him later," Kaiba said. "It's my turn now."  
  
Bakura covered his smile with his hand, trying not to laugh.  
  
"Fine," Mokuba sighed. "I'll get you later, Bakura," he smirked.  
  
Kaiba led Bakura out of the room and into the office. Closing the door, he kissed Bakura forcibly.  
  
The boy swiftly melted into it, reaching up to hold the lapels of Kaiba's duster.  
  
Kaiba moved them back until he could push Bakura onto the couch.  
  
Bakura gave a startled exclamation as he fell onto it, looking up at Kaiba with wide eyes, breath slightly sped.  
  
Kaiba shed his trench and lowered himself over Bakura. "Mine," he said softly.  
  
Bakura gave a small smile and nodded. "Un," he agreed.  
  
Kaiba traced Bakura's face with a possessive smirk. He pulled Bakura's shirt off, bending down to lick his way down the boy's chest, causing Bakura to arch slightly. "Kaiba-kun," he breathed, eyes closing.   
  
The brunet pulled Bakura's pants off, continuing to move his mouth over Bakura's chest and stomach, finally running his tongue around the boy's nipples. Bakura gave a small moan, hands clutching at the couch below him as his body reacted, his cheeks flushing. Kaiba pulled the boy's legs apart, kneeling in between them, fingers causing Bakura to gasp and moan. Hungrily, they kissed, almost clinging to each other, Kaiba holding Bakura against his chest as the paler boy wrapped his arms around his lover in return, hugging him tightly. Kaiba's lips moved from Bakura's lips to his jaw and neck, causing the other boy's head to fall back to expose more of his neck as he moaned, face flushed.  
  
"You... touch me...." Kaiba whispered into Bakura's ear. "Like no one else...."  
  
Bakura gave an almost dazed smile. "Kaiba-kun," he breathed happily.  
  
Abruptly, Kaiba pulled away, looking down at Bakura with an unreadable expression.  
  
The paler boy looked up at him, half lidded eyes and expression confused. "Kaiba-kun...?" he asked, voice unsure, raising his arm to reach out for the boy.  
  
Kaiba caught Bakura's eyes. Slowly, with great determination, he began unbuttoning his shirt.  
  
Bakura's eyes went wide and he inhaled slowly, watching in amazement as with the same determination, Kaiba pulled his shirt off and let it drop to the side of the couch with Bakura's clothes.  
  
Hesitantly, Bakura reached up, lightly running his fingers over the newly exposed skin in wonder.   
  
Kaiba twitched slightly at the touch, but moved to be closer again.  
  
Gently, Bakura continued his caresses, smiling as his fingers traced soft patterns across Kaiba's chest.  
  
Taking a breath, Kaiba stood, turning his back to Bakura.  
  
Bakura's breath caught, seeing the mass of scars that marred the taller boy's skin. He sat up, eyes pained with sympathy as he reached out a hand. "Can-- can I touch...?" he asked softly.  
  
Kaiba turned his head to look in Bakura's eyes again. After a moment he nodded.  
  
The paler boy gently touched his fingers to the marks and gave a soft exhale, slowly tracing the lines. "Kaiba-kun..." he whispered.  
  
Kaiba sat, silently watching Bakura's reaction.  
  
Bakura leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the taller boy, resting his cheek on the scars as he hugged him.  
  
Slowly, Kaiba relaxed against Bakura's touch, eyes closing.  
  
Bakura continued to hold him, wanting to say something, but not knowing what words could possibly convey what he felt. After a long moment, Kaiba turned, taking Bakura's face in his hands and kissing him fiercely. The paler boy returned it with equal passion, holding him tightly and Kaiba pressed him back against the back of the couch, hands sliding down the paler boy's side to hold him tightly around the waist. Bakura made small appreciative sounds, gently caressing Kaiba's back. The taler boy whimpered softly at the touch, holding Bakura as if he wanted the other boy to become a part of him.   
  
Bakura pulled his lips away with a small gasp. "Are you okay" he asked softly, looking up into Kaiba's eyes.  
  
A single tear made its way down Kaiba's cheek. Unable to meet Bakura's eyes, he shifted so that he could curl against Bakura's chest.  
  
"Kaiba-kun...?" Bakura asked, hugging him closely.  
  
Kaiba looked up, reaching up to touch Bakura's face. "Mine," he said simply.  
  
Bakura smiled and nodded. "And you're mine," he returned softly.  
  
Kaiba smiled, shutting his eyes and burying his face against Bakura's chest.  
  
Bakura leaned his cheek on the boy's head with a fond smile, continuing to hold him.  
  
Kaiba leaned back, pulling Bakura with him so that they were lying tangled together.  
  
Bakura gently nuzzled him, expression content. "I love you," he whispered softly.   
  
Kaiba drew a breath in sharply. After a moment of tense stillness, he leaned up to kiss Bakura desperately. The paler boy returned it happily, gently tangling his fingers in Kaiba's hair as Kaiba clung to him, seeming to want to drown himself in the kiss. Bakura held him close, eyes drifting closed as he lost himself in the feel of his lover. His hands slid down Kaiba's back, holder them even closer as he wrapped a leg around one of Kaiba's, further entangling them.  
  
"Want you," Kaiba breathed.  
  
"Take me?" Bakura answered in a matching voice.  
  
Kaiba nodded, breaking from Bakura to pull his pants off.  
  
A while later, the pair lay, bodies tangled and spent. "I love you," Bakura whispered from inside Kaiba's embrace, snuggling against his lover.   
  
Kaiba murmured an incoherent response, falling asleep.  
  
Bakura smiled softly at the boy, then reach up to retrieve the blanket that had been draped over the couch and covered them both before drifting to sleep as well.  
  
--  
  
Note: Itadakimasu is tradionaly said before eating and translates out to roughtly: "I am about to partake"   
  
--  
  
Sorry about the delay between chapters. Haven;'t been feeling up to editing lately [lazy and working on m'webpage.] Will try and get a few more chapters edited and psted today, no promices. 


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